Good Intentions
by Sanche Llewellyn
Summary: A young survivor of the Sector 7 collapse (with unreliable psychic powers) breaks into the Shinra building and meets Aeris in Hojo's lab. Intrigued, he shadows Avalanche, but they learn his dark secret and shun him. Later, he sees a vision of her death and vows to protect her - but plans all go awry, even before attracting a new enemy. AU, the whole crew, OC, Cloud/Tifa (sort of)
1. Chapter 1

_Hello folks,_

 _Inspired by Frank Verderosa's_ Final Fantasy VII Internet Series _(though I did not use any of Frank's original characters or settings - wouldn't that have made it a fan-fan-fiction?), this alternate universe story follows the adventures of Avalanche from Midgar to the Northern Crater, but from the viewpoint of an outsider. A young survivor of the Sector Seven collapse manages to sneak his way into the Shinra building (along with his neighbor's feisty cat), where he finds Aeris locked in Hojo's lab about to undergo one of the good professor's experiments._

 _Avalanche rescues Aeris, but he becomes fascinated with her Cetra heritage. Aided (and often hindered) by unreliable psychic powers, he continues to shadow Avalanche along their journey. When he receives a vision of Aeris dying at the hands - or, sword - of Sephiroth , he decides to prevent her dark fate._

 _However, fate makes a crafty opponent, and evil forces other than Sephiroth can take notice when you pull at the threads of reality._

 _The whole Avalanche crew shows up, along with assorted folks from Shinra and the Turks. Originally written in 2004,_ _before_ Advent Children _came out -_ _so the back-story may conflict with the spin-off games . . . but that just puts more "alternate" into the universe._

 _(You can, in fact, read this without having played the game, though you will likely miss the inside jokes.)_

 _As Yuffie would say, I will "Stop my yappin'" and get on with the story. Thank you so much for reading!_

* * *

 **Part I**

 **The Road to Hades**

* * *

 **Chapter I**

 **Awakening**  
 _"This is not a charity operation." - Shinra_

Alone in his apartment in upper Midgar, young John Philip Sorea awoke from his deep slumber to the screech of tearing metal. This was not a sound he appreciated so early in the morning, not that he would have preferred the discordant tunes of bootleg alternative rock his alarm clock normally gave him after a night of too little sleep. This was one of those nights. The hormonally endowed boys next door had gotten drunk and turned their bass up so high it knocked mortar from the walls (not recommended in these buildings of Midgar). Worse yet, they had tried singing along, bawdy out-of-tune ditties about that dark-haired beauty running around with those Avalanche losers. Tifa, that was her name. She would be more attractive if she didn't blow up mako reactors. What happened to dyeing your hair pink as harmless rebellion?

He admitted, he had dreamed about Tifa himself. Give it up, John. She's way too old for you.

And how old are you, John?

More rumbling and shaking jolted him fully awake. Earthquake? Oh God, and he knew this could happen when he first arrived in Midgar a year ago, a bedraggled traveler in wheezing spacecraft, barely able to walk away from one of his better landings. While the locals had scavenged his wreckage for building materials, he had looked up at the floating city and thought, whose bright idea was it to build a city on a floating pizza pan? One good shake and -

"Aieee!"

He leaped from the bed standing shakily amidst the grinding of joists and flaking of plaster. The world was dropping. As screams echoed from surrounding apartments, his eyes searched the room for safety. Ah, the trusty, dented work desk. He jerked the chair away. Sure. That ought to stop tons of falling bricks and girders. And if not, perhaps he could roll with it? He tucked himself into a ball and dove beneath, safe from earthquakes and nuclear war.

He was praying so hard he barely flinched when the whole ceiling collapsed onto his bed.

* * *

Nestor Granth looked down with contempt at the fragile, brainless creature before him.

"I'm sorry," the red-haired bimbo said. "I can not give out confidential - "

"I said, I have an appointment." Nestor did not raise his voice, but still the receptionist flinched. "With the good Dr. Hojo. Now, where is he?"

"Uh, uh . . ."

Nestor kept his eyes focused on that cute freckled forehead, wishing he had a more appropriate tool for proving his point, such as a power drill.

"I'm waiting."

The woman grimaced, clutching her temples. Nestor turned it up a notch. Sheila. That was the bimbo's name. There, in front of her mind, past the part about her lunch appointment with friends, past the after-work workout at the health club, past the worries about her white Persian cat named Fluffy in the care of a weird albino neighbor kid at home, past the plans to see Loveless with her girlfriends. My, was this mind filled with trash.

"Sixty-fourth floor," Sheila whispered.

Nestor gave her mind one last squeeze before releasing her. She slumped forward and threw up, prompting Nestor to jump back in disgust. There was no need for that! He had just dry cleaned his suit.

"Try not to drool on your lunch date." Nestor walked to the elevator banks, whistling. Annoyed at the wait for the lift, even at this time of night, he turned his gaze on a potted begonia nearby. Within seconds the bright pink blossoms had faded, the leaves crinkled and brown.

* * *

John kept his forearms glued to his ears while he prayed to anyone foolish enough to listen. He was still unsure of the local deities, and he hadn't been attentive to the ones he had known, not even those he had met in person. Still, never too late for a conversion, even with the world literally collapsing around him.

Wham!

Understatement of the year. The floor struck his head with the force of Wutai hot mustard, railroad spike up the nose hot mustard. He opened his eyes to darkness and comparative silence. The roaring, tearing, crashing had ceased, to be replaced by moans and cries all around, softly at first, then growing in urgency. Oh well, at least he wouldn't be dying alone.

First, he inventoried his body parts. Nothing broken; nothing missing. His only lingering pain came from his jaw, apparently after kneeing himself in the chin.

However, encased on all sides, metal deck above and wood floor below, he could do little but wiggle his toes. Ahead, bricks and debris. Behind, well, the wall had been there seconds ago . . .

Grunting and cursing, he forced himself to rotate, easing his egg shaped form in a ninety-point turn until he faced the back wall. He eased his hand out, feeling nothing but smooth drywall.

"No!" This was carrying that born-again thing too far. He pounded on the panel, but to little effect. He braced himself and shoved, against what he knew not, until with a pop the plaster broke. He avoided having a brick fall on his head, though he received a snoot full of dust, a scraped chin and a volley of sneezes for his effort. Some light shone through the hole, flickering as a loose electrical line sparked somewhere above him. Dzzt, dzzt, dzzt. The moans and cries grew in volume out here.

Like a battered butterfly, he emerged from his cocoon. The adjoining room was only partially collapsed, though from the creaking above John was loath to trust his luck. He stood up and - ouch! - perhaps too fast, took a dust and ozone filled breath, and counted his blessings.

He was alive. All because he knew what to do in case of nuclear war.

He was unhurt. Near as he could tell.

He was standing in his neighbor's bedroom. This could explain why the floor was covered with women's underclothes.

In the dim light he glanced at the shattered bureau. Next to it, the bed lay buried in tons of debris, including, it appeared, a fallen refrigerator.

John winced and shook his head. He saw no body under that mess, but the light was bad and he had no desire to feel around. He hurried along the wall to the opposite door. It opened to a hallway with a sagging ceiling. John gritted his teeth and eased along the taller wall. Twice, the mass shifted above, with John envisioning himself impaled on a wall stud.

He shook himself. Seeing the path to the living room blocked, he pushed a barely attached door into a bathroom.

"Meow?" A white ball of fur leapt into John's outstretched arms. Claws kneaded his shoulder as the beast began to purr.

"Fluffy?" Right. This was Sheila's place. The young redhead worked nights at the Shinra building. John sighed with relief. This was one work day she would be happy not to miss. He liked Sheila; she was excited by her job, loved to chat about the weird people she met every day, and never asked what a boy his age was doing living alone. This was Midgar, after all. City of widows and orphans, after the Wutai war. If a twelve-year-old boy could make a living singing in nightclubs, more power to him, she said.

"Okay, Fluff-ball, find a way out?"

"Meow."

After checking Sheila's dining room again, they returned to the bathroom. A hole punched in the ceiling revealed a ragged passage sloping upward.

Fluffy jumped up and waited, blue eyes shining.

"Meow?"

John pulled himself up clumsily, praying he wouldn't pull the top three stories down on himself. The climb was slow, and it was hard to tell how far he went, but eventually he pulled himself through a hole in someone's kitchen floor. Light streamed through a broken window. Outside, the whirling blades of helicopters sliced through the night. Spotlights wandered across the rubble, highlighting people bloodied and frantic on their perches. John pushed out the glass fragments and scrambled into the open. Fluffy crept out behind.

A dozen others huddled on a level part of the roof. John recognized some - mostly people from the upper floors. They had blank, shell - shocked faces and wild eyes. John nodded toward them.

"Third floor," he said, shuddering. "Others are still down there. I could hear them."

Nobody said anything.

John looked out at the devastation. He was surprised most of the city, the other seven floating pizza slices, were still intact. With an earthquake like that, he figured -

"Avalanche did this," someone muttered.

"You mean, they blew up another reactor? And it got out of hand?" John looked toward the city's rim. The two mako reactors still perched there on nearly invisible supports, belching their oily haze into the sky. Before the rim, tatters of the upper plate still dangled toward the jumble of rubble below.

"My God," John said. "Looks like someone ate a piece of Midgar cream pie. Horrible."

"Avalanche."

John jumped to his feet, nearly losing his balance. "The people underneath! In the slums!"

"Unbelievable how low Avalanche can sink. I hear Shinra captured one of them."

"Obviously the wrong one," John said.

"I heard it was a flower girl. My cousin works in the Shinra tower. He told me."

"A flower girl. That's rich. Good to know we have such competent protectors. I wouldn't want to walk these streets thinking someone might try to sell my a daisy."

A spotlight blinded the group as a hovering copter whirled smoke and debris into their faces. Fluffy attached herself to John's shirt like a press-on tattoo.

"Attention! This is the Shinra Urban Rescue Squad. Please remain calm and you will be airlifted to safety, courtesy of Shinra."

"I feel better already," John said dryly.

"Are any of you injured?" the loudspeaker said.

Several of the group moaned and waved bandaged arms.

"You will airlifted to Midgar General. Any of you others need transportation out?"

"No, we all thought this would be a swell place for a midnight tea party."

John's wounded companions glared at him.

The helicopter sank almost to eye level. Those able to do so stepped back, trying to hold onto their hair. A Shinra minion, decked out in blue, leaned out with the megaphone.

"Those who need rides step forward. Five hundred gil per person."

"Five _hundred_?" Surely this was a sick joke.

"This is not a charity operation," Blue Shinra said.

"Charity?" John ran over and shouted in the soldier's face. "We just got our homes demolished! Where do you get off - "

"A medic copter will arrive shortly. A transport copter will follow. Please have your fare ready, in cash." The man withdrew. The chopper began to rise.

"Wait a minute!" John flung himself into the air, snagging a strut. He pulled himself onto the metal skid.

 _"Meow?"_ Fluffy perched on John's back, claws dug in. As John watched, the broken ground receded like a departing train.

John grasped the skid even as Fluffy's claws dug in. "Now tell me," he said, "Fluff-ball, why did I just do this?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II**

 **His Eyes Uncovered**  
 _"I just love a good theory." - Hojo_

After a harrowing ride, with John clinging to the helicopter skid while Fluffy dangled from his back by her fore paws, the helicopter finally settled on top of the tallest building in town, the Shinra headquarters. John released his hold and rolled out of sight. He hadn't considered himself afraid of heights until he spent half an hour clinging to a rattling metal bar, half a kilometer above the smoking wreckage of his former neighborhood. Solid ground, even a rooftop seventy floors high, never felt so good. But, no time to rest; blue Shinra uniforms trooped everywhere, reminding John of an ant hill. Dedicate your life to La Machine.

Nothing to do except go inside the building. Trouble was, a dirty kid in pajamas did not blend in with the press of blue uniforms. John's glow-in-the-dark complexion didn't help either. Luckily, the troops stood in awe of the copter's VIP: Heidegger, or (as Sheila put it) "the man whose breath could stop a truck." Meanwhile, the pajama clad crusader slipped behind and through the door - straight into the stack of lard known as President Shinra.

"Excuse me," John said after bouncing off the pear shaped body. "I was looking for a bathroom."

"Seize him!"

"No, I'm sorry. I must have wandered into the wrong house. Late night and all."

A guard reached for him but Fluffy - who John knew considered herself a patient cat - flew out, spitting and clawing the air. The guard jumped back, drawing his weapon. When John tried to kick it from his hand, pain shot through his foot when his ankle bone connected with what felt like a rock studded watch. Luckily the guard was so surprised he fumbled his gun. As more troops poured in, John threw himself across an executive desk, sending papers swirling, nearly impaling himself on a metal spindle. An open desk door jostled loose, showering him with its gifts of note pads, pens, paperclips and used Wutai take-out boxes. A plastic object clattered beside his head. John snatched it.

A few bullets spattered across the room, shattering a row of pottery on glass shelves.

"Idiots! Not my priceless Wutai vases!"

John leapt out of his crouch, ignoring the pain in his foot as he raced for a stairwell.

"Kya-ha-ha!" said a woman's voice. "You losers are lousy shots. Let me show you."

John was having none of it. He plunged down the stairs, somehow managing to stay on his feet, until he ran into a walking keg of salt pork. Palmer, he recalled. Head of, what? Shinra space exploration? Something like that. He was softer and better padded than the president, though John's momentum still pushed the man down a step. John twisted and rolled, determined not to slingshot back up the stairs. Looking back, he glimpsed a suited blonde woman holding a huge gun, an evil look of fire in her eyes.

"Now see here, son," Palmer started.

"Kya-ha-ha," said the woman. "Stand aside so I can smoke the intruder."

"Easy Scarlet," Palmer said. "He's just a kid."

"I like kids." She raised her gun. "They're quick."

Fluffy ground her hot claws into John's back. John screamed and tore across the lower floor, past the shocked staff. Nobody moved to stop him. Behind, footsteps sounded on the stairwell.

"Warning!" a loudspeaker said. "Avalanche terrorists detected on the upper floors!"

"That's going too far," John said, regarding the door in front of him. Fluffy jumped down. John silently thanked her, though afraid his back would never be the same.

"Where's my key card?" President Shinra's voice boomed over the intercom.

"Kya-ha-ha," Scarlet's voice said. "I'll bet you swallowed it in terror."

"Key card," John said. "That would be, this?" He regarded the plastic card he had snatched from the president's desk. Sure enough, he swiped the card and the door beeped open.

"He, he lent it to me," John said as several people rose from their chairs.

"Meow?" Fluffy, apparently smarter than John, streaked through he door and waited. John followed. Without another look back, he speed-hobbled down a ramp to the sixty-eighth floor.

* * *

Nestor was growing weary of Hojo's monologue, his patter about Ancients leading them back to the Promised Land, interspersed with giggles, followed by rambling about his son, his dear son. Nestor was not here to look at family photo albums.

"Back to the Ancient," Nestor said. "You have one here?"

"Oh yes, oh yes. A beautiful specimen. Hee-hee, bit of a trouble maker, however. Never would cooperate. Always shooting off her mouth and trying to escape. Her name was Ifalna."

"Was?"

"She escaped. Let's see. Hee-hee, fifteen years ago. That's it. Fifteen years ago."

Nestor tightened his jaw. "Do you think, you might have told me that bit before I came all this way?"

Hojo nearly danced with excitement. "There's another one. Only half Cetra, you realize. Full Cetra were nearly gone, when I found her."

"And you have her?" Nestor maintained a casual tone with great effort.

"She died. T-ten years ago. Incompetence, it was. Cetra are so fragile."

"Hojo." Nestor grabbed the jittery scientist. He fantasized dipping the nervous Nellie into a vat of acid to test _his_ fragility. "Do you have a Cetra specimen, now?"

"I do! I do! Hee-hee, so glad you asked. She is, may I ask why the interest? Are you looking for the Promised Land too?"

"I simply require a Cetra. To test a theory."

"A theory? Tell me! I'm a scientist, hee-hee. I just love a good theory."

Nestor sighed. "Okay. I've come to realize the Cetra are a space traveling race. If, for instance, a planet infested with - err, inhabited by them became aware of Cetra living on this planet, they could come and try to reclaim this world, considering it theirs. They do not attack openly, you realize. They infiltrate. Use stealth. Biological agents."

"You really think there is a whole planet of Cetra?" Hojo's eyes glowed like a slot machine. "Hee-hee, have you seen the Promised Land?"

Nestor grinned. This would be easier than drowning puppies in a pond. "Cetra use a viral agent to make non-Cetra beings sterile. Cetra themselves are immune. I have developed . . . an antidote. I hope to test my theory on your subject."

"I, I don't know. She's the last Cetra left, and as I said, hee-hee, they're fragile, but I'll consider it. Meanwhile, why don't I offer you a tour of our facility? I was once an architect, you know. Hee-hee, I designed the sixty-third floor of this building."

"Fascinating." Nestor was itching to test the fragility of Hojo's nose, but that wouldn't bring him close to the Cetra. "I would love to see your architectural masterpiece."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III**

 **Angel and Glass**  
 _"And here you are. You broke into Shinra headquarters with nothing but your pajamas." - Aeris_

John limped through the maze of lab machines and bizarre equipment, not looking too closely into any specimen jars for fear it might provide plot lines for impending nightmares. Living through one was enough.

There were few technicians at this hour, and they paid him no notice. Fluffy, now too tired to lacerate his back, lay asleep in John's arms.

Turning a corner, he entered an open area with banks of terminals flanking a number of booth-like rooms beneath a metal catwalk. Several glass chambers, one of them occupied, lined the opposite side of the room. In the largest one, a young woman with twisted chestnut hair, dressed all in pink, lay curled on the floor. John frowned. Could be a trick of the light, but she seemed to project an emerald aura around her sleeping form. John blinked a few times and the illusion disappeared.

"I'm losing it." He walked up to the thick glass. She did not look comfortable on that bumpy metal floor. Her head rested on one outstretched arm, her hair strewn back to form a short blanket over her tucked-in body. As he watched, her head twitched. John wondered what she was dreaming, and as he thought this, his hands slid down the cold glass surface of the chamber.

 _He saw a different woman, with longer, reddish brown hair, lying in the same position. Her head lifted. She looked up at him with open mouth and widening eyes -_

"Excuse me?"

John jumped around as adrenaline lit through him. A middle-aged man with black hair and a triangular goatee stood holding a tray of food. A bemused expression lit up his face. He set down the tray and began working the dials on the chamber. A panel recessed and slid aside, allowing a small shelf to unfold itself. He set the tray on this and lifted the silver lid. The aroma of soup made John's mouth water.

"I'm Reeve," the man said, "and you are?"

"John. I was, uh . . ." He realized Reeve hadn't demanded an explanation for his presence. "Why is she kept in this overgrown fish bowl?"

"Hojo."

"Can't she at least sleep in a real bed?"

"I will bring her a blanket and pillow. I didn't realize - I brought her extra food. I knew Hojo was keeping her on lean rations. I'll see if, I mean, I'll try." He stopped. John could feel the guilt roll off him like a harbor fog.

"I appreciate it."

They both turned to see the woman in pink had arisen. She smiled.

Reeve worked a lever and a food slot opened near the bottom of her chamber. He slipped the tray through and left it open. The woman inside took the tray of bread and soup and set it on the floor of her chamber.

John said, "Hey wait. Weren't you selling flowers outside the Goblins Bar the night the reactor blew up? It had been the worst performance of my life, and I was nearly drunk from second hand marijuana."

"The reactor didn't just 'blow up,'" Reeve said. "It was destroyed by terrorists."

"Hey yea? Well someone just dropped a house on me tonight and what's your company doing about it? Sending fat obnoxious Heidegger out in a chopper to put out fires with his breath?"

Once more, the guilt rolled off Reeve. What was with this guy? Did he keep his mother in the freezer or something?

"Meow," Fluffy said. His whiskers twitched at the nearby food.

"Yes, I know you're - ow!" Fluffy tore across the room, taking several strips of John's skin with her.

"Come here," the flower girl said.

"Bloody cat. I rescue her from my neighbor's apartment, and how does she repay me?" He held up his bleeding arm. "I have more scratches than an LP record." He looked at her. She was holding a piece of garlic cheese bread. Smiling.

"I don't believe we've been introduced. My name is Aeris."

"John Philip Sorea. I'm a folk singer. At least I was, until someone broke my guitar over my head at the Goblins Bar."

Aeris laughed. "So that was you I heard singing in the alley that night?"

"I'd forgotten my medication."

Aeris took a bite of the cheese bread. "This is good, Reeve."

John could feel Reeve's weight of guilt lift, if only a little. While he pondered this, the green aura once again appeared around Aeris' face. It blended well with her complexion and pink outfit.

"Speaking of medication, I'm now having color-coordinated hallucinations."

"Sounds pretty."

A loudspeaker spoke. "All senior executives report to the main conference room immediately. This is an emergency."

"Sorry," Reeve said. "I have to go. I'll check in on you when I'm done."

John watched him go. Senior executive, huh? Thought they didn't let humans in their group.

"So Aeris, you're the infamous Flower Girl Bomber?"

Aeris hung her head. "It's terrible."

"You _are_ a member of Avalanche?"

"Shinra dropped the plate. To wipe out Avalanche."

"Whoa." That would explain Reeve's guilt. "To destroy a whole section of the city? Maybe that's why - "

"What?"

"A vision. I get them. Annoying things. Anyway, I believe our Shinra president is due for an impromptu body piercing. Oh, and that buffoon Palmer might get hit by a truck. If he doesn't have a heart attack first." John almost started to laugh. "But then, I also learned a guard, who wears what feels like a solid lead watch, has a pet hamster named Pickles. But did I even have an inkling a section of the city was going to drop from the sky? No, that would have been useful."

"Care to practice? Can you get a vision off me?"

"I could try. It doesn't always work. If you are worried about your future, it would be easier simply not to play in traffic."

Aeris smiled again. "I can take anything you can dish out. Oh my. You are hurt. Hold on." She bowed her head. A warm breeze swirled about them. John felt at peace, as if lying in the woods by a waterfall. Even the laboratory air smelled cleaner. He felt alert, a sense of power within him he hadn't known minutes ago. The sense of something wonderful waiting to be released. In fact -

"Your turn," Aeris said.

John reined in his impulses, rubbing his nose in thought. "Amazing. You even got rid of that boil inside my left nostril. It's been annoying me all week."

"Pleased to be of service." She looked at him, green aura billowing behind her.

"Okay. Hold out your hand."

He held her hand, enjoying the feel of it. He closed his eyes and concentrated. Nothing. That happened, often when he wanted a vision and tried too hard. He relaxed, thinking of a waterfall in the forest. When the vision did come, he arched an eyebrow, confused. He opened his eyes and stared at Aeris, prompting her to speak.

"What? What did you see?"

John released her hand and laughed.

"Tell me."

"You don't seem like the gladiator type."

"What?"

"You were in a duel. In some kind of theater, or stadium, fighting a dragon creature. It clawed at you, and you bowed your head and prayed again, only this time you made it rain. There were angels flying around, too. Anyway, you clocked the poor dragon, and a guy said, 'Congratulations. For this next fight, I'm going to turn you into a toad.'"

Aeris was laughing now.

"That's my vision for you. You get what you pay for." He bowed and shook her hand.

"I guess it means, I'll have a struggle ahead, and people will not fight fair."

"But you've been warned. You'd better develop a taste for flies."

"You're terrible."

"Say Aeris, why are you in here?"

Her pretty face grew solemn. "It's because I'm an Ancient."

"I think you're being too hard on yourself. You're, what, twenty-two? Twenty-three?"

"No, I'm an Ancient. A Cetra."

"Hmm. Cetra. I've heard that term before. Just can't remember where."

"How old are you?" Aeris asked.

"Tricky question." John pondered the answer. "Best guess is . . . I don't know."

"You don't want to tell me. You look twelve, maybe. But there's wisdom and experience there. And you live on your own. That's not so unusual in the Midgar slums, but you lived on the plate?"

"For the last year, until tonight. Before that - I had to run away. Political problems. Getting blamed for starting a war, then messing up an attempt to prevent it." John snorted. "I hate time machines. Harder to ride than bicycles."

"You're a time traveler?" Aeris looked at him with awe.

"As it turned out, literally, no. Everyone else in the room became one. I, I was left to explain why the only traces left of the good president were a pair of spectacles and his steaming left shoe. The palace guards took it personally. When they came after me with giant meat axes, I thought it wise to leave."

"That must have been, awful."

"Heh. It's all in the past."

"And here you are. You broke into Shinra headquarters with nothing but your pajamas."

"I never was a power dresser. And I do have a sadistic cat with me."

Fluffy yowled from somewhere.

A door swished open. Booted footsteps approached, as well as an irregular gait.

"Just put it over here," a nervous voice said. "Hee-hee, I have a new serum I want to test on her."

"Hojo!" Aeris whispered. "Hide!"

John was already moving across the room. He bolted behind a control console, almost colliding with the two guards carrying a stretcher. When they stared at him, John dropped to all fours and began hopping around like a chimp.

"Hey Hojo," one of them said, "one of your specimens is loose."

John hopped over, making barking noises, snapping at the guard's foot before scurrying under a table. The stretcher clunked above. Weapons slid from their holsters. John circled, keeping cabinets and crates between him and the cursing guards. He could see both sets of boots crisscrossing the area. One set stopped.

"Come out, kid. We won't hurt you." He snickered. "Much."

John thought about searching for a weapon, but decided the guards were armed well enough. So he looked for a way out.

"What, what is it?" said a giggling voice.

"A crazy pale kid. You got any vampires in here? Hey, what is this - _ugh!_ "

Feline screeching mixed with human swearing. With a final spit, the white fur ball streaked across the floor. Something metallic clanged to the ground.

"What's going on back there?" Giggles said. "Quit tearing up my lab. This is precision equipment."

"Come on, let's go," the guard said. "Hojo can catch his own specimens."

John crept forward. He saw Fluffy stalk out, give him a superior grin, then leap onto the table. John eased his head up to look.

He gaped at the figure lying before him.

Sheila. Red hair and freckles, blue eyes staring into space. John waved his hand before her eyes. No response. Not even when Fluffy curled up below her chin did she stir. John lifted her hand and placed it on the purring body.

"What happened to you?" John grasped her shoulders and stared into her eyes. "I know you're in there. What happened?"

Gunfire interrupted his thoughts. He looked up to see three bedraggled rebels marching in. A big black guy with a gun attached to his arm, a blond spiky-haired punk with a sword the size of a surfboard, and the dark haired woman he recognized as Tifa.

"Be back in a moment," he whispered to Sheila. He picked his way to a vantage point, being sure to keep a solid barrier between himself and that gun.

"Lovely," Hojo said. "You're just in time to see my experiment."

"You can't do this," Tifa said. "Aeris is a human being."

Hojo flipped a switch and a section of floor in Aeris' chamber retracted, to be replaced by an elevator containing a red beast: half lion, half hound. Aeris jumped back against the glass, but the beast only seemed interested in her soup, which it lapped up hungrily.

"Two endangered species, on the brink of extinction. There's only one way to ensure their survival. I have to mate them."

"Hold on a moment." John stepped out as Hojo's hand poised over a button. "You can't do that."

"Who are you?"

"Yea," the man with the gun arm said. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm a kid in pajamas. Hojo, you can't rush things. First, you have to let them talk, get acquainted, maybe go out on a date, catch a movie, enjoy a dinner - hey, they're already sharing a meal, so maybe you can arrange a long midnight stroll under the stars. I'll be happy to provide the music."

"Who let this loony in here!"

"Barret," Tifa scolded.

"I don't care, man! Hojo, you let Aeris out of there of I'll blow your brains out the side of this building!"

"You can't kill me. Hee-hee, I'm the only one who knows how to operate these delicate controls. You wouldn't want to hurt your precious Ancient, would you?"

"Stow it, Frankenstein," John said. "All they have to do is push this button here - or was it this one? No, it's the green one. Yea. Oh no . . . "

"You fool!" Hojo was so mad he was doing jumping jacks. John ducked. Barret sprayed bullets across the room. John heard them zing-zing-zing off metal and shatter glass.

The chamber with Aeris and the lion thing glowed pure white.

"Aeris!" Tifa ran to the glass, shielded her eyes and peered in.

"My precious specimens! Ruined!"

"I'm stricken with remorse," John said, flipping a switch labeled Main Chamber Door. "Here's a gift from the Planet."

The white mist parted to reveal a flaming red lion thing leaping through the air. Hojo went down hard.

The Hojo creep was stronger than he looked. Though the lion thing tore at him with its claws, Hojo managed to push the snapping jaws back from his throat. Its weight did prevent him from moving, however.

"Tifa, get Aeris out of there." Spike seemed to be in command of their group.

Tifa gathered Aeris, who was leaning against the door frame. As the two stepped clear, Spike swung his sword forward, looking for an opening in the battle.

"No, I can't lose!" Hojo said. "I won't. Je-je-jenova Pestilence!"

Hojo, or glowing green thing in lab coat, burst off the ground so fast he flung the lion thing into the chamber. Spike and Barret closed for combat. The red creature landed on its feet to come back at the Hojo thing himself. Two green pseudopodia shot out and dropped half a dozen pulsating globs, which began moving on their own.

"Over here!" John motioned for the women to break for the tables. He cast about for a weapon to fend off the creeping globs, but found nothing heavier than janitor's tools.

Tifa pushed Aeris behind a crate before turning to face the advancing blobs. She took up a martial arts stance, though John could feel her unwillingness to punch what appeared to be everything that had gone down the kitchen drain last year.

The lion thing reared, green light glowing around it as flames shrouded the green Hojo-thing. Wow, a spell casting lion. That was new to John.

Spike stepped back, whipped his sword in his own spell. Lightning flared from the ceiling. Hojo would have a bad hair day.

Tifa stood her ground and said, "Ice!" One of the globules was freeze dried.

John, having climbed onto a table, glared at a glob trying to ooze onto his table. It would get half way up, then slip back, only to try again with more force. John cast about for a weapon. Ah. A piece of rebar. Unfortunately, it leaned against the wall, across the room. That meant, in order to reach it . . .

"Oh, great mental powers, don't fail me now." He stretched out his arms, concentrating so hard his hands started to quiver. The iron bar also began to vibrate, but stayed stubbornly put.

Tifa gave him a strange look. He looked at her, and saw the green goo had finally crested his table. It sat pulsating in the corner, as if panting for breath. John growled in frustration. The rebar finally moved, flying through the air in the opposite direction, perhaps fleeing in terror. A mop bucket streaked out, nearly body-checking Tifa before crashing into Hojo, splashing its sudsy contents onto the lion thing. John winced, only to receive an airborne plunger over his face.

"Mmf!" John tumbled off the table, avoiding the lunging blob but landing on its cousin on the floor. The blob cushioned his fall, but he could do without the burning sensation knifing through his back.

Hojo was weakening. His green pseudopodia lay flapping on the floor like decapitated snakes. His main body bubbled mire from dozens of slashes. Spike slashed in with his sword - my, he was good with that thing - while the lion thing, looking less dignified being soaked in suds, continued tearing away with claws and teeth.

John tore loose from the acid blob, yanking the plunger off his face with a wet pop. He pummeled his opponent, who (John swore it grinned!) sucked his weapon from his grasp. Its victory was short-lived; Tifa blasted both it and its mate on the table with a blast of ice.

With a sigh of thanks, John rolled to his side. He felt as bad as Hojo looked. Defeated, Hojo slumped to the ground, regaining his former shape. Barret closed in for the kill.

"Here's for Jessie, Wedge and Biggs, you goddamn - "

Suddenly the speakers began blasting the Shinra pep anthem.

"Shin-ra, Shin-ra, Shin-ra forever! Shin-ra, Shin-ra, Shin-ra forever!"

Barret howled, spraying bullets into the ceiling. He not only drowned out the cheerful music, but he blew out some lights and activated the fire sprinklers.

"Barret, what are you doing?" Tifa's hair was plastered to her back.

Barret, a man of few ideas, cursed and fired his gun again.

John heard Fluffy's furious yowl. He struggled to his feet and hurried to Sheila's side. The woman had turned her head to the side and now stared, eyes wide and mouth forming silent syllables. John took her hand in his one goo-free one and leaned over her face, shielding her from the spray.

"Sheila, can you hear me? What happened to you?"

Her other hand went to her temple. Her eyes glittered with pain.

The sprinklers and music cut out, leaving behind a dripping, blinking mess. Barret was still cursing and kicking things. The lion thing, having been doused with soap, was at least clean.

Tifa walked over to him. "Nice fighting, kid. Don't think we would have taken Hojo without your help."

John rolled his eyes. "I hate telekinesis. I can give myself a blinding headache for three days to save the effort of picking up a spoon."

On the table, Sheila started to shiver.

"I'm here," John said. "Can someone get me a blanket?"

"How touching," a new voice said. John turned to see a new man in a suit, flanked by half a dozen Shinra soldiers. The man held a smart briefcase and a superior smirk. "Hojo, it looks like you've been holding back on me."

"Who the hell are you?" Barret said. He, Spike and the lion thing formed up.

"I am Nestor. Guards? I believe the good president would like an audience with this rabble." He drew his own gun and pointed it at Tifa. "And none of you will get any stupid ideas - if you want that pretty girl's brains to stay inside her pretty head."

Hojo's hand came up, mostly still green, onto his console, followed by his abused body. "My work . . . my work."

"Where is that Cetra?"

Tifa and Aeris joined the rest of Avalanche. Hojo seemed reluctant to point out Aeris, but John knew he would not stay quiet. The guards removed the rebels' weapons, though they had understandable trouble with Barret.

"Tie that gun arm behind his back, aimed at his head," Nestor said. "That should slow him down."

Hojo propped himself against the panel, trying to draw breath. Sheila moaned. John wanted to help. He still felt the strange charge of energy from when Aeris healed him, and the growing desire to somehow release it.

"The Ancient," Hojo said. "The last . . . of its kind."

"Yes?" Nestor stepped close. Hojo lifted an arm.

"The Ancient escaped," John said. "Right before you got here."

"Oh?" Nestor approached John. "Where did he go?"

Sheila clutched her head again and trembled. Eyes shut, her forehead beaded with sweat. "No. No."

"Stay back from her!"

"She means something to you?" Opening his briefcase, Nestor withdrew a syringe and fitted it with one of three ampules.

"I've already had my flu shot," John said.

Nestor smiled. "Where is the Cetra?"

Sheila tried to roll away. John grasped her shoulder. Her body tensed as if for a blow. John felt the energy well up and instantly he knew what to do.

He bowed his head, releasing the power held inside. As it rushed forth, a warm wind swirled around the two of them, seeping through he cold dampness of the room. John felt pleasantly spent, if a bit breezy on his back where his pajama top had burned through. Sheila relaxed, rolled onto her back and sighed into sleep.

"Beautiful," Nestor said. "Take them away."

The guards moved Avalanche, including an open-mouthed Aeris, out of the room. Hojo tried to talk, but only managed a croak. He gave up, flopping face down on the floor.

Nestor set down his gun and briefcase. He held the syringe up to the light, The liquid inside glowing a sinister shade of amber.

"Nice show, Ancient, but I'm afraid you've made your last mistake."

Faster than he believed he could move, John darted around the table. The syringe jammed into the metal, breaking off the needle and shattering the vial. Nestor tried to pin John with the table itself, but the boy slipped free. Nestor grabbed for his gun, when Fluffy, psychotic fur ball, tried to strip the flesh off his arm. He flung away the offending beast, but this gave John time to snatch the briefcase.

"Stop, you Cetra scum!"

John scurried though the crates and benches. Nestor followed at a walk. John stopped before a flaming drum of sludge, probably ignited during the fight.

"Give me that." Nestor stood twenty meters away, gun leveled at John's chest.

"Something tells me that is a bad idea." John flipped open the case, saw a second syringe and two more golden ampules. He stroked one of the vials.

The vision, brief though it was, struck him like a sandstorm.

 _A quaint tropical mountain village, houses shaped like giant shells. Recently teaming with life, now silent except for the weeping wind through open doorways. A single baby cried in the distance._

 _Scene change: inside one of the larger shells, the last few victims lay twisting and moaning on mats. John could almost feel the heat steaming from their tortured, red-veined bodies._

 _A voice. Not unkind, merely sad. "The plague. The Cetra plague."_

John cried out, his eyes wide and streaming with tears.

"Who - what are you?"

"Merely a businessman. Product testing, to be precise."

John was trembling. "Why, you . . . " He flung the briefcase into the flaming barrel.

"You think that will stop me?" Nestor said with surprising calm. "I can make more. And I will." He raised the gun to John's head. "Say hello to the Planet, Cetra scum."

John shrugged. "If you kill me, where do you propose to get more Cetra?"

The gun drooped. "You may have a point there." Nestor walked back through the crates and tables. "I do require a full test." He paused by Sheila's table. "I'm afraid this round goes to you. However," his smirk returned, "it also means this round goes to her."

He pointed the gun at Sheila's head and fired.

"No!" John screamed and raced forward. Nestor turned and walked out of the lab.

"No! No! No!"

The lab doors opened and closed with a final clang.

"Why?" John cradled Sheila's lifeless head, heedless of her blood soaking his arms. "Why? She was nothing to you. She never hurt anyone. She was just - why?" He lowered his face into her neck and sobbed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV**

 **Devil on the Loose**  
 _"I'm a half-crazy albino folk singing Peter Pan type of kid who just had his house dropped on him. And you are?" - John Philip Sorea_

John did not know how long he stood there, slumped over Sheila's body on the low table. If he had fallen asleep he remembered nothing of his dreams. The lights had dimmed in the lab. All was quiet. At some point, Fluffy had curled next to Sheila and now slept peacefully.

John looked down at Sheila, seeing her blood on his arm. He waited, in case a new batch of tears came, but he was all cried out. Sheila was only a next door neighbor; they hadn't even been close, but her death, the senselessness of it, hurt all the same.

In any case, he couldn't go running around in blood-soaked pajamas. John went in search of a washroom and some spare clothes. Not hard to find: a storage room held racks of lab coats and sweat pants, though most were too big, as Shinra apparently hired few twelve-year-old lab techs. Still, with diligent searching (and some cross-dressing), he assembled a respectable outfit. After a long shower (rarely did he have this much to wash off!), he was buttoning his shirt (wondering why women's shirts had to button backwards) when he heard a commotion outside. Crashes, shouting, gunfire. No, he had just cleaned himself up. No time to dive into another crossfire.

More shots, farther away. Another scream. John sighed, easing the door open. The lab was still silent. He glanced at the clock: just after eight. Shouldn't the morning shift be here?

Sheila's body still lay on its funeral table. It didn't feel right to abandon her there, but John didn't have a hearse. Also -

Fluffy trotted up, leaving a trail of bloody footprints.

"Cat, what have you been in?"

"Meow?"

At the far end of the lab, he found the morning shift.

"Looks bad. Poor saps came to work, probably told to clean up the lab, and something came up that elevator and . . . stabbed them, from the look of it. Right, Fluffy?"

"Meow."

"Also, whoever killed them was dragging something heavy, and bloody."

"Meow."

"It looks like, it went that way?"

"Meow!"

"Right. We backtrack, not follow."

Another scream in the distance.

"I have no intention of meeting that thing."

John took the freight elevator down one floor, where the blood trail led from the storage room. More bodies here, all dead, slashed or stabbed. John picked up Fluffy and followed the trail, careful not to track in it, back to its source, a solid metal pod with the door hanging open. Dry ice vapors still wafted from the opening. John looked at the sign on the curved door.

"Jenova. You know, Fluffy? I'll be happy if I never hear that name again."

He found more bodies in the hall beyond. Okay, so whatever had killed them hadn't emerged from the chamber. He ducked down a dark corridor, where a dead guard lay sprawled in a corner. Beyond him stood a row of closed cell doors. One room on his left contained a pile of weapons. John recognized the huge sword Spike had been carrying. John then peered into the room across the hall.

"Aeris." She seemed all right, sleeping on the bunk.

The next cell contained Tifa and Spike. Both slept soundly, Tifa on the bunk and Spike on the floor. It looked as if they had rolled toward each other in their sleep; Tifa's hands drooped off the side of her cot while Spike's arm stretched toward her dangling fingers.

John tried his key card on the lock. When the lock indicator beeped from red to blue, Fluffy jumped from his hands and streaked around the corner.

"Come back, idiot cat," John whispered. When he heard stirring in Tifa's cell he followed Fluffy. With their weapons, Avalanche could deal with Mr. Blood Trail. As for him, he had to leave. He was no use in a fight, and people around him got hurt. Sheila had been a friend; that was her fatal mistake. Not even a close friend. But he had killed her just as if he had pulled the trigger himself.

"Stop it, John," he said. "This is no time for one of your sulks." Still, he felt better chastising himself. He rubbed his head, which had started to hurt. He leaned against a door frame. "I need a hot meal. I need my medication. I just want to go home."

He felt a presence behind him. Alert now, he whirled to see the red lion-thing staring at him.

"I didn't do it." He raised his hands. "I didn't kill all those people. Do you see me carrying a big sword around?"

"Did you see the attacker?"

Ahem. A talking lion? Oh, why not? It can cast spells, after all. "Am I in several pieces?" John cleared his throat. "Sorry. It's been a hard night."

"Who are you? You're not Shinra."

"Name's John Philip Sorea. I'm a half-crazy albino folk singing Peter Pan type of kid who just had his house dropped on him. And you are?"

"Hojo called me specimen Red XIII. Any other name you choose would do."

"How about . . . " Nanaki. "Nanaki?"

"That," The beast hesitated, a flicker of light in his eyes, "would suit me fine."

"Hey Red!" Barret's rough voice echoed down the corridor. "Somebody wasted these guys!"

"Will you be safe on your own?"

"I got in the building, so I can get out." John melted into the shadows. This wasn't easy for someone so white he glowed in the dark. Nanaki strode back up the hall, head held high.

It was time to leave. Not just the building, but Midgar itself. He had no life here. His home was demolished, his friend Sheila dead in the lab. The urge to run overpowered him. Still, he kept his pace even, and no one stopped him as he headed to the elevator, down to the sixtieth floor, then down the many flights of stairs to the street.

"Now what," he said, as if noticing the content white cat in his arms for the first time, "are we going to do with you?"

"I think I can help you."

"Reeve?" John's gut told him to run, but he had a hard time seeing a threat in this man.

"I have an idea. A place you can go. You see, Avalanche is going to become a major problem, and I'd prefer they not be my problem."

"I'm not going to turn against them. I hardly know them, true, but if they are fighting against your company they must be doing something right."

"I don't have time to debate the nature of terrorism. We have a train to catch. That is, unless you prefer to be Hojo's new lab specimen?"

"I would prefer a train ride. What is the destination?"

"You're looking to get out of Midgar, right?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter V**

 **Payback**  
 _"So. You can shut up. Maybe I should try that on Elena." - Reno_

Two weeks later, Nestor stood in Hojo's refurbished office, picturing how good it would feel to pull the giggly professor's limbs off and throw him on a hot sidewalk.

"What do you mean, he is not a Cetra? He performed that healing trick right in front of you."

"I tested his genetic material. Hee-hee, he is not a Cetra. He is . . . something wonderful."

What would be wonderful would be carving that albino Cetra freak into strips of jerky.

"So you never had a Cetra subject?"

"Oh yes, oh yes, I had the girl Ancient. She escaped with Avalanche. But I don't need her now, since I have something wonderful."

"You have the boy?" Nestor allowed himself some excitement.

"Sadly, no. Hee-hee, but I have spies tracking him. We'll take him, and he will lead Shinra to the Promised Land."

"In that case," Nestor said. "I would dearly like to meet him. To experience his, wonder."

"Hee-hee-hee." Hojo clapped a hand on Nestor's shoulder. "We make a perfect team."

* * *

The heat from the red stone cliffs made the black cape doubly stifling. Even in the evening hours, the sun blasted the bare rock, turning the canyon into a brick oven.

John usually traveled at night, but lately he felt a sense of urgency, something missing from his life these past few weeks. Almost as if, being called somewhere? He hoped the caller had a good reason. He hated telemarketers.

The cliffs rose higher here, offering patches of shade. He sprinted toward the cool darkness for a respite. Other creatures lounged here as well; funny fox-trotting penguins with sand shooting tridents (who were annoying at times), and giant mutant peacocks who avoided him.

The heat had slowed the monster activity as well. John sat on a rock and threw off the cloak, rubbing his reddened arms while questioning his sanity. Why didn't he heed his own advice and hole up during the daylight hours? One of the penguins blew some sand at his legs. John gave it a look, and it hopped away.

"Good time for a nap." He rolled the rock over, checking for scorpions before patting the cool underside in appreciation. He lay against it, pulled his cloak over his body and closed his eyes.

He admitted, walking through the brick oven canyon was not his wisest move, but he still smarted from a harrowing ride on a giant chicken - chocobo, he corrected himself - who had the personality of a wasp nest and the patience of a pit bull. Add to this, he didn't know how to ride, which ended up saving him. Sure, he could stay on the back of a horse, provided it did nothing rash, like move, but a rampaging chicken who stopped to try to get a peck in every few steps? After a hundred meters of frantic dodging, John had tried to leap from the saddle, only to have his leg tangle in the harness, leaving him dangling over the side, bouncing like a bell clapper while the mad chicken galloped along the sea shore, splashed through streams and even tried to roll him loose in a desert.

The scenery, he decided, had been breathtaking, though he would like to see it right side up some day. Finally, the overgrown rooster stumbled into a forest near a blown out reactor, where John was finally able to cut himself free. The old bird rushed at him, perhaps intending to peck him for not paying his fare, when it was attacked and devoured by three giant grasshoppers.

John had then spent the next three days being chased by packs of singing frogs. This hot desert didn't seem so bad after all.

He awakened later to the rumble of a buggy rolling through the canyon. His irritation turned to amusement when he saw his pack of sand penguins rushing the oncoming vehicle. It scraped to a stop. Drawing their weapons, the occupants jumped free.

"Avalanche," John said. Hard to miss. Nanaki wouldn't be easy to forget. Not too many bulky guys with gun arms about either. Spike waded into the fray, swinging that sword with glee. Aeris and Tifa fought side by side, smacking any enemies who ventured too close. They had picked up some new members, he noticed. A brown-skinned teenage girl stood in the buggy, flinging a returning shuriken the size of a tire iron. And, was that a cat perched on a giant quivering marshmallow? Every move it made screamed "bouncy, bouncy, bouncy." Effective though, John noted, watching it flash fry an amorous peacock.

After the melee, the group piled back into the buggy and, after Barret blasted some shots into the sky, resumed their plodding course. John, now energized after his nap (and thanking the lengthening shadows), rose to follow. He could see twinkling lights of a settlement ahead, and its night scene had to be more exciting than the desert.

Near the stairway to Cosmo Canyon proper, the buggy sat being washed by a pair of mechanics. John mounted the stairs only to be told the village was closed.

"How can a village be closed?" he asked.

"We are celebrating the return of Nanaki."

"I'm a friend of Nanaki." Well, he met me in a Shinra hall and I left with my throat intact . . .

"In that case, you are welcome. I can sense the truth of your words."

"Whew. And to think I considered telling you I was on a mission from God."

"Come and experience the Cosmo Flame."

"I'll settle for a cool shower and a hot meal."

"Our inn is always open."

But not the village? John thanked him and hurried inside.

Feeling refreshed after his shower, he sat, wet hair slicked back, facing a plate of curried pineapple and rock shrimp. He breathed in the spicy fumes to moisten his breathing passages, all dry as concrete from the desert air. He was sampling the first zesty morsel when Tifa and Aeris walked in, hand in hand.

"As I was saying, Teef, you need to lighten up and have some fun."

"I know, but every time I try, something awful happens."

"Hello there," Aeris said. "I wondered what happened to you."

"Ew. You're eating a plateful of bugs," Tifa said.

"Rock shrimp," John said, spearing one with a fork. "Just don't count the legs."

Tifa shuddered. Aeris giggled. "Mind if we join you?"

"Not at all. Grab some grub."

Tifa turned as green as Aeris' eyes.

Aeris, meanwhile, sat next to John and said, "I think I'll order a salad."

"Hey John," Tifa said. "Ever been to Wutai?"

"Can't say I have."

"Because," Tifa smiled, "they eat raw fish there."

Something flipped through the air and landed square-footed at the end of the table.

"We do _not_ eat raw fish in Wutai," the shuriken girl said.

"Relax, Yuffie," Aeris said. "Tifa is just teasing our friend."

John speared another rock shrimp. "I guess I bring out the best in people."

"Are you eating bugs?" Yuffie said. "Oh, grossness."

"At least they're cooked," John said.

"You probably are the type to eat raw fish."

"If the alternative is frogs or snails - "

"You were in Gongaga? What a depressing little town."

"I hear you. Only good thing that happened there is I lost my chocobo."

"That's too bad," Tifa said. "Aren't chocobos cute?"

"This one? This one was, of the devil."

Yuffie stepped around to Tifa. "I'm going to check out the materia shops around here. Glad you're feeling better, Tifa." She gave the woman a hug. "See ya!"

"That was nice," Aeris said.

"Check your pockets, John," Tifa said. "Wow. Everything of mine is here."

"She stole my three gil," John said. "After a haul like that, I believe she genuinely wants to cheer you up."

"I'll take it," Tifa said, starting to look distant again. Then she brightened. "John, I'd like to thank you for what you did in the Shinra tower. Taking the hit for Aeris like that."

"And to think," Aeris added, "I thought I was the last surviving Ancient after all these years."

"There are probably more of you about," John said. "After all, you had to come from somewhere."

"My mother."

Ifalna.

"Brown hair, down to her waist? Liked to wear red and blue?"

"Yes." Aeris looked distant. "She was the last of her kind. She told me - "

"What, no aunts, uncles, cousins? She must have had some extended family."

Aeris shook her head sadly.

"None of that," John said. "I didn't cheer Tifa up to drag you down. So think happy thoughts or I'll order you a plate of bugs."

"With what gil?" Tifa asked.

"I might have to borrow from Yuffie. Anyway, I haven't been able to duplicate that healing trick since I left the lab. A couple times I needed it, too. Like when I dropped off that psychotic cat with his new owner, a girl named Marlene. It's like, that cat blamed me, for everything. Raked me, but good. I couldn't make the healing trick work, so Reeve got me patched up."

"Reeve?" Tifa said. "Of Shinra?"

"Mr. Soup himself. He suggested giving the cat to Marlene. She and Fluffy took to each other, though."

Aeris grabbed John's hand. "Can you speak with the Planet?"

"Speaking with planets, trees and furniture has always been a sore spot with me." He patted his medicine pouch. At least Yuffie didn't steal that. "But honestly? I can't recall a specific chat with a planet."

"It's strong here in Cosmo Canyon. Let's try. I'll help you."

"Okay." He and Aeris bowed their heads.

"Do you hear it?"

"Just my stomach growling. Sorry." John speared two rock shrimp. "Maybe I just need a full meal."

"If that's what it takes," Tifa said, "I don't ever want to speak with the Planet."

John gave Aeris' hand a final squeeze. "I'm sure you don't - "

 _Clink. Clink. Clink. A glowing crystalline orb bounced down stone pillars and dropped into a clear pool below. A palpable wave of sadness punched him like a sledgehammer._

John blinked furiously and realized someone was shaking him.

"Are you all right? What's the matter?" Aeris said.

"Yea." Tifa released him and sat back down. "You spaced out there. Kind of like someone else I know." She bowed her head.

"Were you speaking with the Planet?"

John took a deep breath. "I hope not. I sincerely hope not."

The three of them sat silent. John returned to his meal. Aeris started on her salad, while Tifa sipped a mug of warm milk.

"Hey, there's your friend Spike," John said later.

Tifa looked confused but Aeris laughed.

"His name is Cloud, silly, not Spike."

"Spike?" The blond man's eyebrows rose.

"What kind of name is Cloud?" John asked.

"What's wrong with Cloud?"

"Nothing. It's not as if it's Guybrush Threepwood or something."

All three of them looked at him as if he were from another planet.

"Too many rock shrimp," John said. "Does that to a fella."

"Bugenhagen wants to show us his observatory, where we can listen to the Planet."

"Oh, I want to go!" Aeris jumped up and ran around to Cloud.

"Thought you might. How about you, Tifa? Want to join us?"

"Really?" She perked up. "Of course."

"I'll save your places," John said. "Say hi to the Planet for me." He watched them leave. Aeris had her green aura back, and Spike - Cloud - had a fainter, blue aura. John blinked. The auras were still there. For some reason, Tifa had none.

"You're losing it, John." He looked at his plate. "Too many rock shrimp."

John actually got fifteen minutes of peace, nearly enough time to clean his plate.

"Well, well, look who we have here."

John looked up to see a smartly dressed man with wild red hair, along with a bigger, bald companion. The tough guy stood behind the weasel-like redhead, all business.

"What can I do for you gentlemen?" John wondered if he should take up selling insurance.

"My name is Reno, and we would like you to accompany us."

"No need. Just pull up a chair." He moved Aeris' salad plate and Tifa's half full mug aside.

"We need to get going."

"Nonsense. You just got here. I hear they serve excellent drinks."

"In that case . . . " Reno glanced at his Beefcake companion, who shrugged.

"Care for a rock shrimp?"

Reno cringed. "A Turk does not eat bugs."

"So tell me." John popped the rock shrimp into his mouth. Seeing the sick look on Reno's face, he chewed deliberately and licked his lips. "Just who is dying to meet me?"

"I'm not at liberty to disclose that."

"Yea, yea. Turks. I've heard about you. Anything for a price. But no harm in letting me guess your client, is there? Let's see. Is it, Darth Vader?"

Reno gave him a blank look.

"Tall guy, dressed in black, wears a black gas mask and helmet?"

A memory surfaced. In another lifetime, he recalled confronting a madman who thought it added atmosphere to dress up exactly like that.

"No, then. Already took care of that freak, anyhow. Who else? Jack the Ripper?"

Reno smirked.

"No, too small-time for you. Not enough death for your likes. How about President Shinra? The new one, Rufus, not President Shish-kabob. No? he certainly could afford you, though why he would want me is a mystery. Could be that evil Scarlet, though she is more the type to come after me herself. Hey, how about Loony Green Hojo?"

John looked for a flinch, or a flicker, and thought he found it.

"Aha. Am I right or am I right? What did he promise you? Two extra arms and a tail? Oh, I know." He turned to his companion. "He promised Beefcake here he could grow hair like Tifa."

"Let's go." Reno grabbed John's shoulder to pull him up.

"You're overlooking an important fact." John picked up his remaining rock shrimp between thumb and forefinger. "I haven't paid for my meal yet."

"Well, I suggest you ask for the check."

"Nope. See, I only had three gil, and Yuffie stole that. So I promised Hiro back there I would sing for happy hour."

"Hiro?" Reno chuckled.

A bronzed man built like a stack of manhole covers and wearing a chef's hat stepped up to the bar.

"Grrr," he said.

"Hiro, meet Weasel. He had interesting things to say about your curried rock shrimp." John inserted the shrimp he was holding inside Reno's shirt.

"That does it." Reno pulled out a nightstick, pushing a button on it so it hummed. His companion pulled out a gun.

"Beefcake, you're not going to shoot me. Put that away."

"He's Rude," Reno said.

"I know that. Pulling out a gun in a place like this. Someone could get hurt."

"His _name_ is Rude," Reno said, gritting his teeth.

"Hey yea?"

"Come," Rude said, gesturing with his gun.

"Do you think I'm more afraid of your gun and Reno's electric dildo than Hojo the mad mutant? Put that gun away. It's too hot to handle."

John gave him the Look. Rude dropped the gun with a yelp, before plunging his hand into Tifa's mug.

John found the expression on Rude's face hilarious, though he stifled his laughter. Reno didn't seem to get the joke for he pointed his nightstick at John's chest and pressed the button. The static discharge flung the albino back onto a neighboring table.

John blinked his eyes to stop the ceiling from spinning. Reno's smirking face drifted into view. As annoyance turned to anger, John realized he buzzed with the charged feeling he had felt when Aeris had healed him in the lab. This time, however, he didn't feel in a healing mood.

He also glimpsed the form of Yuffie in the rafters, drifting through the shadows. Wouldn't want to miss the show.

"So," Reno said. "You _can_ shut up. Maybe I should try that on Elena."

"Hey Weasel," John said too loudly. "Tell us that Wutai joke again. You know, the 'how many Wutaians does it take to polish your shoes'?"

"I believe that calls for setting level two."

Rude was testing his gun with the tips of his fingers. "Reno," he said, "perhaps - "

"No. This little snot is pissing me off." He adjusted his nightstick. "Now. Any more you'd like to say?"

"Yes." John felt the charge within him rush to his fingers. He lifted his arm. "Back-atchya."

The discharge knocked both Reno and Rude back, though more from surprise, as the attack was not powerful. Still, Reno dropped his baton, which several feet kicked around on the floor.

"Grrr."

Reno had bent to retrieve his weapon when he found a tree root arm looped around his chest.

"Time to leave," Hiro said. "You are not invited to the show."

"Please, may I feed him some lima beans?" John asked.

"Take Beefcake with you." Hiro winked at John.

"I-I haven't finished my drink." Reno could barely draw breath. Rude picked up his gun, and Reno's nightstick as well.

Yuffie sailed down from the rafters and landed in front of Reno. "So, you're telling Wutai jokes? Wanna tell it to my face?"

"I never - I never told that joke to him. No way could he - "

Yuffie's fist smacked into Reno's nose. The Turk howled in pain. Her hand reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of gil.

"Reno here feels so bad about spoiling your dinners that he's offered to buy you each a new one. Let's hear it for Reno the jerk - er, Turk."

John did notice half the money slipped into Yuffie's pocket. But then, she deserved a commission.

"Please stay for the show," John told her. "It starts as soon as I pull the rest of these noodles out of my hair."

Hiro hauled Reno to the door. Rude stepped politely outside.

"Now I show the little man my special wrestling move," Hiro said. "It's called the noogie."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter VI**

 **Eternal Flame**  
 _"Ho-ho-hoo, did you think you were going crazy?" - Bugenhagen_

John met some of the others near the bonfire in the main plaza. The Cosmo Flame, forever burning. Much like the Olympic torch on his own world, John thought. Yuffie was there, explaining to Tifa how she had cleaned Reno's clock. Nanaki lazed by the fire, lost in his own thoughts. The giant cat toy, sitting on a stuffed flippered animal, gave out fortunes to a line of eager children. The stuffed animal wobbled like a seesaw with each reading. John thought about getting in line, but he had had enough of prophetic visions.

Turning around, he almost collided with Aeris.

"Sorry. I didn't see - what's wrong?"

Aeris looked up at him, trying to hide the tears in her eyes.

"Bugenhagen wants to speak with you."

"Bugenhagen?"

"Grandfather," Nanaki said. "His observatory is up top."

"Ah. Did he say why he wanted to see me?"

Aeris shook her head. "Just to talk."

Head low, Aeris walked over and sat beside Tifa.

* * *

John expected an older, grandfatherly version of Nanaki. Instead, he found a strange old man with a flowing white beard, and no legs. The lack of legs didn't slow him down however, since he levitated everywhere he went. Convenient.

"Ho-ho-hoo," the man said, "You must be the one they call John."

"I'm also the one I call John."

"Aeris tells me you used her Healing Wind power. Fascinating."

"Why is Aeris upset? What did you tell her?"

"Slow down, my boy. Ho-ho-hoo, you must have patience for an old man."

"Okay. Aeris said you wanted to see me."

"How much do you know about the Jenova project?" Bugenhagen asked.

"Uhm, I saw a trail of blood leading from a chamber labeled 'Jenova' in the Shinra tower. And Hojo mentioned the name before turning into a big green monster."

"So, the specimen Dr. Gast found in a rock stratum is still alive. And Barret said it was missing its head? Jenova beings are highly resilient."

"What does this have to do with me?"

"Dr. Gast spent many years studying the Jenova specimen, believing it to be an Ancient, or Cetra. Ho-ho-hoo, but one day he visited, highly distraught, saying how wrong he had been. Unfortunately, the Jenova project - the injection of live Jenova cells into human subjects - was already underway. Sephiroth was the first result."

"So I take it Jenova was not a Cetra?"

"Correct. In fact, Dr. Gast claimed that Jenova and the Cetra were mortal enemies. The Cetra were protectors of the planet, while Jenova are life-force parasites. They derive their powers from the energy of others."

"But we all do that," John said. "Unless you have figured out photosynthesis. I'm afraid I'm deriving energy from those rock shrimp I ate tonight."

"You eat bugs?"

John didn't answer. An idea was coming to him.

"Perhaps," Bugenhagen turned thoughtful. "Perhaps if Dr. Gast had access to more than one Jenova specimen, he might have drawn a different conclusion. But all we have is that one, preserved for two thousand years. That is, until now."

John rubbed his chin. Then he spoke. "Nestor Granth."

"Who?" Bugenhagen looked surprised.

"Really creepy guy in the Shinra headquarters. He wanted to test a germ warfare thing on me. He told me I was an Ancient, because he saw me do Aeris' Healing Wind on Sheila, an injured friend of mine. After I destroyed his vials of germs he killed Sheila." He paused. Pain still stabbed at his heart.

Bugenhagen spoke softly. "How did you know they were germ vials? Did he tell you?"

"We're drifting into quicksand," John said. "I had a vision. Not scientific. Won't hold up in court."

"What was the vision?"

"It was terrible. Such senseless death. It was something . . . called the Cetra Plague."

"Cetra Plague." Bugenhagen swiveled, drifting to his bookcase. He pulled out a thin volume and floated back. "I believe Dr. Gast mentioned something about that. Ah. Do you recall if this Nestor person had an aura?"

"Aura?"

"Yes, like Aeris."

"Aeris - you can see those, too?" John felt his heartbeat quicken.

"Those sensitive to such things can see them. Ho-ho-hoo, did you think you were going crazy?"

"You don't want to go there. But no, I don't remember Nestor having an aura. Of course, I don't always see Aeris' aura, either. It comes and goes."

"Aeris has a lovely green aura," Bugenhagen said.

"You're right. It matches her eyes. And tonight, the strangest thing, I saw an aura around Spike - I mean, Cloud, except his was faint blue. Though it does match his eyes too."

"Your aura is a strong, clear blue."

"My eyes are pink. I never was good at - wait, did you say I have an aura?" John held up his hand, turning it this way and that.

"You say you used Aeris' Healing Wind. This was, after she used it on you?"

"Yes."

"And you haven't been able to use it since?"

"No. It was like, like a charge. Then it was gone." Then he laughed.

"Yes?"

"When Reno zapped me with his joystick this evening? I was able to toss the charge back at him. My, was he surprised."

"Ho-ho-hoo!" Bugenhagen circled John. It was both cute and unnerving. "You asked why Aeris was upset. I talked with her about her Cetra heritage. She got upset when I told her she was the last of her kind."

"Nestor seems to think there are more of them. Else, why develop a disease to kill them off?"

"That does bear consideration. I was unaware of this when I talked with Aeris. She told me she couldn't be the last Cetra, because she had found you. Alas, I had to tell her. You, John are not a Cetra."

"So that's why she's upset. She's feeling alone. I can't blame her, because I - " Oh-oh. John looked at Bugenhagen. "So, what is the rest of the story?"

"You can see Cloud's aura?" Ho-ho-hoo, you must be very sensitive to pick that one out. I believe he was one of Hojo's later experiments, injected with Jenova cells."

John opened his mouth to speak, but just stared at the floating man, the implication finally sinking in.

"No . . . "

* * *

"I am all alone in the world," Aeris was telling Cloud. "I'm the last of the Cetra."

"We're here for you," Cloud said. "You have us."

Aeris looked worse than John felt. "But I'm the only . . . Cetra." She stared through the fire, not even acknowledging Barret when he declared Avalanche to be reborn. Tifa reached over and hugged Aeris. John, meanwhile, lay where he had slumped to the ground earlier, a bit too close to the fire for comfort. He felt as if his brain had been buffed with a brick.

Bugenhagen drifted in; John became aware of the conversation. Nanaki was cursing his father, calling him a coward. This was angst central.

They were forming an expedition party. Yuffie, having sat with a bored look on her face the whole time, leaped to her feet and insisted on accompanying Cloud and Nanaki. Cloud glanced once at Tifa, then motioned his crew onward. Bugenhagen floated on ahead.

"Gee Spike," John muttered. "How many years has she been pining for you? Fine. Don't notice."

He closed his eyes and rolled onto his back. Sleep was nature's best tonic.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter VII**

 **Revelation**  
 _"I'll show you excited, you damn zombie freak." - Barret_

John awoke under a blanket and straw hat, in the back seat of the six-wheeled buggy. It was early afternoon, so he pulled the hat brim lower. The others were just climbing back in, breathing heavily. Yuffie sprang in next to him, flushed with effort.

"I just love these new health and energy materia I bought. Really puts spice into a fight."

"Health and energy? Like Granola bars?"

"Speaking of health, how are you feeling? We figured you got sick from eating all those bugs. Well, duh. Gross! What do you expect? Anyway, Aeris wanted to bring you along. They put me in the back seat because I get sick as a rat in vehicles and they would rather I barf out the back than down someone's neck."

"Rats don't vomit, Yuffie," Nanaki said.

"Okay, sick as a dog, then."

The bean bag John had been leaning against spoke. "Hi. I'm Cait Sith. Would you like me to read your fortune?"

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Less useful than a Wutai fortune cookie."

"Go ahead." John spoke in a monotone. "Not as if it can be any worse than the truth."

"Okay. Here goes!"

The wibble wobble of the beast rocked John like a baby in a cradle.

"Here it is. 'Your whole valley is green.' Technically correct, but let's try again."

"Whatever."

Wibble wobble wibble wobble wibble wobble.

"Today is the first day of - "

"The rest of my life. Yea, yea."

"Oh, let me try one more."

"Fine."

Wibble wobble wibble wobble wibble wobble.

"Keep that up and you'll make me seasick," John said.

"Your greatest success will be your greatest failure. Your greatest failure will be your greatest success."

"Now that sounds more like me."

"All settled, guys?" Tifa asked. "Just one more hour to Nibelheim."

Yuffie moaned. John pulled his hat over his face and went back to sleep.

XXX

It was twilight when the buggy eased to a stop near a row of Tudor-style houses. John slowly rose, nudging the bulk of Cait Sith off his body.

"Hey Cloud," Barret said, with that 'everyone watch out or I'll start shooting' look on his face. "I thought you said the town burned down. You didn't just say that to get our sympathy, did you?"

"It . . . did. I don't understand." Cloud stared at a house on the end of the block. He started toward it, ignoring the others. "Mother?"

Tifa walked up and took his hand. Together they walked to the door. Cloud paused for a minute on the doorstep, looking around with forlorn eyes. He went inside.

John glanced around the town. Seeing the others fan out towards the shops and restaurants, he followed Cloud and Tifa instead. Nanaki padded after him.

"I grew up here. I spent fourteen years of my life in this house," Cloud was saying.

"Get out. I've never seen you before in my life." The woman looked barely older than Cloud himself, and bore no resemblance.

"This house. It burned down when Sephiroth - "

"Nonsense. This house has stood here as long as I remember."

John eased closer, placing his palms on the wood paneled walls. Nanaki came up beside him, giving a puzzled look.

"Who are you? And what is that . . . creature?"

"I am Nanaki, son of Seto. I am the guardian of Cosmo Canyon." John could hear new-found pride in his voice.

"It talked!"

Nanaki rolled his eyes.

"People say that to me too," John whispered. "And I also get tired of it."

"All of you, just leave," the woman said.

"This house is four and a half years old," John said. He stepped to the coat closet door. "Someone went to a lot of effort to false age the wood, though." He opened the door. He jumped back.

Inside, a black-robed figure moaned.

"Must . . . get to . . . Sephiroth."

"Is he your husband?" John asked the woman.

She did not appear perturbed. The cloaked figure wobbled out.

"Jenova . . . reunion."

John was not becoming fond of that name. Cloud stood, eyes glazed, as if his mind were in a blender. Tifa approached the woman.

"Cloud is right," Tifa said. "I lived next door to him. After Cloud left to join SOLDIER, Raine would bring by her special peach pie."

"Raine, Cloud," Nanaki said. "I like it."

"Must . . . go to . . . reunion."

John had to sit down before his brain resembled Cloud's. He walked over and sat himself on the stone floor of the dinette.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the woman said. "I've never seen any of you before."

Tifa tried to hide her exasperation as she went to comfort Cloud. John doubted he noticed her.

"Seph-ir-oth, lead us . . . to the . . . promised - " The robed figure crashed into a lamp stand. John sighed and leaned on his hands.

 _"Cloud?" The blonde woman stood on the stone floor, looking at a younger Cloud lying on the bed. "Just remember." She looked down, and back up. "I'll always be your mother, Cloud."_

John blinked, shifting his weight. He traced the cobblestones in the floor. There, faint in the crack, a hint of soot.

 _Heat. The blast ripped through the roof and rafters like hot lead through a squash. The blonde woman - Raine? - who had been stoking the morning fire looked up to see burning wood and rafters tumbling toward her. With a shriek she threw herself forward, taking the impact on her legs instead of her head. She growled, trying to pull herself free, when a thick crossbeam crashed onto her shoulders._

 _John peered down. Raine's face, covered with soot and sweat, contorted with pain. Her blue eyes opened wide. Her struggling stilled._

 _"Who are you?"_

 _John tried to move the fallen beam, but his hands and body passed through it. He howled in frustration._

 _"Are you one of Cloud's friends?"_

 _John stopped, looked down and nodded._

 _"Tell him for me." Raine's eyes teared up. The room, unbearably hot, was filling with smoke. "Tell him . . . I love him." Raine coughed. "Tell him, I love him, and I'll always be proud of him."_

 _John nodded again, and brightened._

 _"Hold on. Don't die. Hold on, okay?"_

 _He rushed toward the door, hoping to sail through it as he had the beam. Its solidity hit him with bone rattling force. He screamed, pounded, rammed it. Then, realizing precious seconds were leaking away, he found the handle and opened it. Beyond, flames raged in the whole town._

 _"Help!"_

 _John jerked his gaze around, spotting a man in a blue Shinra uniform lying on the ground. John prayed he was alive._

 _"Over here! A woman. She needs your help! She's trapped under a beam!"_

 _Yet even as he spoke, the words seemed to warp away in the air. He tried to run forward, but the air pulled around him like glue. Still, he struggled on, until the world swirled away in a fiery kaleidoscope._

When he opened his eyes, he saw only stars.

"You all right?"

John found himself in the back seat of the buggy. He turned his head and saw the silhouette of Tifa.

"You lost it in there. Scared us all. We thought you would tear the door down to get out. Then that lady chased us out with a broom."

Clunk. Clunk. The two of them looked toward the row of houses. A robed figure walked into a paneled fence.

"Must," clunk, "get to," clunk, "Sephir - " Whack! The figure stepped on an upturned rake, the handle smacking him in the forehead. He collapsed.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Tifa said.

"A vision. I just need to take my meds." John smelled his sleeve. Smoke and soot. "I tried to save her, Tifa. In a vision, years old I suspect. A friend once told me it's foolish and impossible to try altering history in one of my visions. It doesn't stop me from trying, though."

"What did you see?"

"Her. Raine. Pretty, nice, concerned. She'd still be alive if she'd been standing two feet to the left. She wanted me to tell her son - " John took a deep breath, gathering his composure. Still, his eyes blurred. He tried to sit up, but cried out as a sharp pain lanced through his ribs.

"Easy. The door, remember?" Tifa touched a green gem on her armlet. Green light glowed around her and John felt the warmth ease his aches away. "Rest. I'm going to join the others in the Shinra mansion. You can tell Cloud about his mother when we come out. I'm sure he will want to hear."

John watched as Tifa jogged across the town square to an imposing gray house. He almost nodded off, but remembered sometimes he could slip into another vision. He didn't want another dose of unreality this soon.

He climbed out, brought a soft drink at the drugstore, swallowed his pills with a fizzy gulp, and set out to wander the town.

Near the gates of the mansion, two more robed guys mumbled about Sephiroth and Jenova. A third appeared from behind a truck, mumbling about sparing some change. John dug out a five gil piece before turning his attention to the Shinra mansion, where he heard sound of combat from an upper story window. Gunfire, swearing, flashing of fire spells.

"If I can't help, maybe at least I'll stay out of the way."

With that, he ran up the path to the house. Inside, he avoided most of the bizarre creatures who accosted him. A few floating pumpkin heads breathed a pink gas on him that, had he not been bumping into walls and tripping over loose carpets anyway, would have stirred his mind into rainbow sherbet. Once out in the main hall, he was nearly cleaved by a half-man, half pendulum hanging from a chain. How the hell did that fit in with the local ecology? John dodged, but the hanging guy pivoted for another pass, nicking him in the shoulder. John backed up, snatching a nearby broken lamp stand for defense. He noticed several deep gouges in the wood; apparently someone had used this before for the same purpose. He advanced, keeping his eyes on pendulum guy.

"I don't suppose you would simply let me pass," John said. "I mean you no harm."

The guy pirouetted on his chain, lifted one arm and extended his middle finger.

"All righty then." John narrowed his eyes, concentrating on the chain, willing it to snap. He wanted the guy to try crawling across the floor, dragging his pendulum bottom. Instead, he heard a scraping sound behind him and something struck the back of his knees. John found himself sitting in a low wooden chair, watching Mr. Pendulum swung for him, passing mere centimeters over his head.

John twisted sideways to avoid the backslash. The chair tumbled, righting itself after John bounced to his feet. The creature attacked again. John raced for the stairs, where he threw himself behind the banister railing. The chair slid around after him, leaving the pendulum blade to slice a wayward floating pumpkin in half. Pink gas billowed out; John waved it away and scrambled up the stairs. He heard a bump-bump-bump behind him. Looking back, he saw his pet chair had bounced up the stairs behind him, and now sat giving that smug look many chairs often gave.

"You've got to be kidding."

Still buzzing from the pink pumpkin gas, he finished climbing the stairs, stopping on the landing when he heard the chair legs scrape along the wooden floor.

"Stop!" He glared at the chair. The chair looked hurt.

"I do not want another pet." He showed his arms. "I still have scars from Fluffy. So, stay here."

The chair allowed him to continue into a room he thought the commotion had come from. He found various unidentifiable monster parts on the floor. A safe with its door hanging open sat in the corner. The air smelled of blood and ozone.

From here it was easy to follow the party's steps. They left a trail of monster goo and corpses - mostly those pumpkin things, but he also found twisted metal balances and shattered mirrors. Strange. A few floating pumpkins remained to blow their breath at him. John ignored them. When his pet chair shifted when he walked near the landing, John shook his finger at it and continued on his way.

The trail of destruction led to a wall. Pushing against the stonework revealed a spiral staircase, sounds of combat drifting up from below. The stairs themselves sported bloody dead bats the size of terriers. This place was worse than haunted; it was infested. More dead bats lay in a heap at the bottom. The sounds of combat grew clearer. The crackle of bolt spells, rattle of Barret's gun, the whoops of Tifa as she karate-chopped and kicked at whatever unfortunate creature had considered her a midnight snack.

More spells. More shots. More curses. As John crept around the corner, he heard a watery voice say, "Yang is excited."

Barret's voice replied, "I'll show you excited, you damn zombie freak."

The gunfire sounded like a marching band falling down the stairs.

Barret stood braced against a wall, shooting into an alcove. Cait Sith's ridiculous body lay upended farther down.

John peered into the nook. The crew were fighting a huge double-headed zombie thing. One head hung limp from its neck, while the other one still blazed with fiery eyes. Its limbs snapped in wild contortions, making the body stumble about like a drunk gymnast. Tifa pounded and kicked away to little visible effect. Aeris leapt in and swung her staff. It connected with a satisfying _ching_ across the monster's chest. Cloud leaned against the alcove's wall while Yuffie cast a healing spell on him. Nanaki dashed to and fro, trying to knock loose the spindly legs.

"Yang is excited." It flung a wrist and a white ball exploded into ice shards in Barret's face. He swore, falling hard onto his side. The green glow of healing magic soon wrapped his body.

Yang staggered forward, but then flung its torso back into a hoop shape, nearly scraping its skulls on the ground. What was this, aerobic exercise beyond the grave, proving rigor mortis need not be an end to all fun? Leading everyone in a song, "I'm a little croquet wicket?" Don't you try that, Tifa, or you'll never get your hair untangled.

Aeris clocked Yang with her staff again. A shuriken the size of a garbage can lid sliced into a withered thigh, then flew back to Yuffie. How does she catch that thing?

Yang lurched forward so hard it almost cracked its heads on far wall. Straightening, it sent a bolt at Cloud, whose sword made the perfect lightning rod. Blue sparks shot up his spikes. Hmm. So that's how he does his hair.

"Yang is happy."

A monster with a mood ring. How quaint. No need for self help books here. Tifa apparently did not share its jocular mood; she kicked it hard in the shin. The crack of bone echoed through the room. Aeris, Tifa, Nanaki and a still sparking Cloud closed in for the kill.

Yang made no effort to stop them. It's eyes glowed brighter and brighter -

"Duck!" John screamed and flung himself around the corner. Yuffie followed his lead around the opposite corner.

The explosion shook sand from the ceiling all the way down the corridor. Dirt and body parts flew - hopefully those of that Yang thing.

When it was over, Barret lifted his arm from his head, only to find Aeris draped limp across his legs.

"Oh Aeris . . ." Tifa, battered and bleeding herself, ran over to her fallen comrade. John saw Cloud with a poleaxed expression on his face as he tried to wrench his sword from where it had embedded itself in the ceiling.

"Barret, don't move. Oh God Aeris. Is her neck broken? Someone help. Get some materia - "

"I have a Revive." Yuffie rushed over holding her mega-shuriken. Green light blazed around the fallen Cetra.

"I have a phoenix down," Tifa said. "Here, lift her head, Barret. Come on, come on, come on, Aeris. Come back to us - "

"Aeris?" Cloud still looked as if he had walked into a train.

Nanaki bounded in from the other hallway. "How is she?"

Yuffie hit Aeris with another spell. Her body twitched. She coughed, spitting up some blood. Just another stain on that pink dress. She was going to need some quality shopping time once she got out of this house.

"Aeris?" Cloud said again. "She all right?" He looked at his sword as if it had morphed into a soup spoon.

"She needs rest," Tifa said. "I'll take her back to the inn. You carry on here."

Cloud stood watching the two leave, looking like a boy watching a departing hearse. Then he snapped to his senses. "Wait. I'll escort you through the house."

"Thanks," Tifa said over her shoulder, cutting off any "Don't worry, we'll be all right" from Aeris.

John meanwhile, wanted to see what the fight was about. Stepping over zombie fragments, he found a room with a glowing purple coffin in its center. Frowning, he started to approach when a dark form screeched down from above.

"Hey!" He backed against the wall, fending off the creature intent on inserting its snout into his flesh. "Overgrown mosquito, back off!" He grabbed the proboscis and twisted. A cracking sound mingled with the creature's shriek. John threw up his arms, receiving deep gashes as it raked with its wing claws. Another bat thing jabbed his shoulder. John twisted aside with a yell. He punched the bat in front of him, actually knocking it away, only to have a third take its place.

"This place is nuts!"

A pair of red jaws snatched the newcomer out of the air. Nanaki spat it out, turned and swiped away to John's right.

"Thanks." John looked around for more. Satisfied, he said, "You can say it. This is no place for little boys."

Nanaki looked at him. "Interesting. I would have thought - never mind."

John just shrugged. "Think there's a vampire in there?"

At this, the coffin lid slid aside, allowing a red and black cloaked figure to levitate to its feet. It had perfectly acceptable glowing red eyes and a metal claw for a left hand.

"Who disturbs my rest?" said a deep, annoyed voice.

"Classic vampire line," John said. "Get some garlic, Nanaki."

"I am not a vampire."

"Ah. I see. How foolish of me. After all, living in a dungeon of a haunted hell house, sleeping in a coffin guarded by bloodsucking bats, hovering in the air in your billowing cape, peering at me with red glowing eyes? I don't see how the word 'vampire' even entered my mind."

The vampire-in-denial ignored him. He looked at Nanaki. "Is this your pet?"

Nanaki stiffened. "I am Nanaki, son of Seto, protector of Cosmo Canyon. Who might you be?"

"Vincent." With that, he settled into his coffin, followed by the lid, which levitated neatly into place.

"Not chatty, is he?" John said.

"Perhaps we should wait for Cloud and Tifa to return," Nanaki said.

John shrugged. "To think, all those times people accused me of being a vampire. My eyes are pinkish lavender, albeit not red, and my skin is bone white. I can't take much sunlight. I don't drink blood, but I am fond of tomato juice."

Barret stuck his head in. "Yuffie and I got Cait working again. Who are you talking to?"

John left Nanaki to the explanation. He didn't think Barret liked him, and besides he was feeling claustrophobic. He walked out and waved at Yuffie and Cait Sith.

"So, live around here often?"

"This place is gross," Yuffie said.

"Do you know what's down that hall?"

"A door. Beyond that, probably something gross." She limbered her shuriken. "Nothing I can't handle."

John felt a strange compulsion to open that door.

"Mind if I take a look?"

"Suit yourself. I owe you for that warning. You fought one of those zombie dorks before?"

"First time. Quite the performer though. Zombie pretzel." He walked down to the door.

Yuffie said, "You let me know if you find any materia in there, okay?"


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter VIII**

 **Mother Issues**  
 _"My, you're forward. Like Aeris." - Tifa_

John found himself inside a combination lab and library. Two vertical fish tanks filled with green liquid glowed in the room's corner. He ignored them and turned into a bookcase lined hall.

A man with waist-length silver hair, a black cloak and a long curved sword, thumbed through a stack of books. He threw the one he was reading aside and pulled another from the shelf.

"Read any good books lately?"

The figure whirled. Apparently he wasn't surprised often. He looked almost embarrassed for it. He had green eyes like Aeris, but devoid of any warmth or kindness. His hair, strangely enough, formed Aeris-like bangs in front (How did they get hair to do that?), but above it all, John could pick out a pale blue aura.

"You are not my mother," the man said, voice flat.

"I'm surrounded by rocket scientists today." John began to pace. "What was your first clue?"

"The reunion is not for you. You do not belong."

"You must be Sephiroth. A lot of people are looking for you."

"Why are you here? Why torment me? Did Mother send you?"

John had a feeling this question carried the same weight as 'Are you a god?'

"In a way." He recalled his earlier, fiery vision. "Why did you kill Cloud's mother?"

"Cloud Strife?" Sephiroth began to laugh. "He told you he has a mother?"

"Of course he has a mother. Everyone has one. Except for me, of course, unless you count the Wonders of Modern Science."

Sephiroth snatched his sword and turned toward him. The blade cut through the air like a whip.

"Hey, don't get all testy. I'm just saying - "

"You will not stop me! Mother and I will take back the Planet from those traitors, those humans. You will not stop me from reaching the Promised Land." He drew his sword back, but in their narrow confines it slashed the spines of a row of books before wedging its end in solid wood.

"Will you calm down? Maybe I should hang out with you. Next to you, I feel downright sane."

"Why? Why are you here? Mother . . . "

"Maybe that's why. Give me your hand, and I'll find your mother." John cringed, remembering one other time, long ago, when he had tried this. The answer revealed a host of truths better left buried. Still, the knowledge had saved him. Now, as for this freak - ugh! John's eyes bugged out at what he saw beyond Sephiroth. A purplish, one-armed, headless female torso lay propped against the wall.

"Geez! Most psychos are content to leave their mother in the freezer. You carry that thing around like monogrammed luggage?"

Sephiroth wrenched his sword free and advanced. John stepped back.

"Nice, uhm, hair. You must go through gallons of conditioner. How long does it take you to comb the tangles out?"

They were now in the lab. With room to move, Sephiroth pulled his sword back for a strike. He seemed in no hurry. He smiled. It was the smile of a man who carried his mother's torso under his arm to all public functions and wondered what the big deal was.

John was running out of options. He noted the buzzing inside. Maybe it would do no good, but, why not?

"Eat funny breath." John blew a hot pink cloud over Sephiroth, who started bumping into furniture like his fan club members outside. John began to turn toward the door when something hard clunked off his ribs.

"Ow!" He scooped up the blue sphere. "Why are you throwing marbles at me?"

He pocketed the orb and hurried through the door.

Back at the vampire alcove, Cloud and Tifa had returned. Vincent was still in his coffin. The guy must be the life of the party.

"How are you doing?" John asked Tifa.

"Holding up." She pressed a hand to her side. "Nothing a few cure spells won't fix. And Aeris, she was actually more worried about me." She winced, and continued. "I had to assure her I wasn't on death's door before she would let me leave." She looked at Cloud, a faraway look in her eyes. "Maybe I should have stayed with her."

"Have you told him how you feel about him?" John glanced at Cloud.

Tifa blushed. "My, you're forward. Like Aeris."

"What's the worst that could happen?"

Tifa set her teeth but did not reply.

"In any case, at least you'd know. But I think - "

"Jenova!" The coffin lid clattered to the ground.

"Huh?" John turned to Vincent, who hovered in the doorway next to Cloud.

Vincent pointed his metal claw at John. "Jenova."

Sigh. "The name's John. I know both start with the letter J, and contain many of the same letters, but - "

"You carry the scent, the aura."

"Oh brother." John squinted at the vampire. Sure enough, a pale blue aura sprang into view, stronger than Cloud's but weaker than Sephiroth's.

"I see it too," Cloud said. "I didn't realize it before, but it's strong. It's . . . an abomination."

"You guys, there's nothing wrong with the color blue," John said.

Cloud drew his sword and advanced. John could sense the waves of pain rolling off him. He pulled his own mind in tight.

"Kind of like the sky calling the ocean blue, isn't it? After all, both you and Vinnie here have the blue aura."

"Vincent." He drew a shotgun and pointed it at John's chest. John raised his hands.

Barret flanked Cloud's other side, gun arm drawn. Tifa backed away, looking shocked but unsure. Yuffie stood with a sad expression. Cait Sith simply looked goofy. Nanaki, now where was that critter? Sneaking around behind to tear his throat out? My, my. Things had gone to hell in a flash.

"Sorry," John said. "It's just, I once knew a vampire named Vinnie."

"I am not a vampire!"

"Sure, and I also knew a Vinnie who was a seven-foot tall amazon who one day decided she was a lawyer. Thing was, she wore the bare minimum of clothing - "

"What the hell are you talking about?" Barret said.

"Simple. Not all vampires are named Vinnie, and not all Vinnies are vampires. Here we have a perfect example of someone who is not named Vinnie, and what do you know, he is not a vampire."

"Can we ice this goddamn Jenova freak?"

"Wait!" John held out his hand. "I don't want to fight you."

"Because we'll kick your sorry butt."

"Yes, but I'm not your enemy. I've only been on this planet about a year. I have nothing to do with the Jenova thing your buddy Sephiroth is carrying around with him."

"Sephiroth?" Cloud and Vincent said together.

"Yea, he's back in that lab at the end of the hall, reading bedtime stories to his dead mother."

Cloud whirled around, then turned back. "You talked to him?"

"He was strange, but unlike his brethren outdoors, he can chew his food without help. He spouted a bunch of megalomania crap, taking back the Planet for his mother, yadda-yadda-yadda, and when I told him I never had a mother - being a home grown lab clone - he got all indignant and started waving that long-ass sword around. I felt it better to leave."

"You survived?" Nanaki walked out of the alcove and stood next to Tifa. "You went up against Sephiroth and lived?"

"We didn't fight. Traded insults, maybe."

Cloud spoke up. "Do you deny you're a Jenova?"

John took a deep breath. "No. But I didn't know until I was in Cosmo Canyon. Bugenhagen told me."

Nanaki nodded. A thought dawned. Bugenhagen told you too, you sneaky beastie. John smiled, and Nanaki nodded in response.

"We don't have time to deal with you now," Cloud said. "We are after Sephiroth."

"Are you going to challenge him?"

"I have a score to settle with him. But we can not have another Jenova trotting around. So I'm asking you to leave. Go away, and stay out of our way. Do not interfere. If you do, we will kill you. Understand?"

John nodded.

"I still don't trust him," Barret said.

"Nor do I. But if we fight him with Sephiroth at our backs . . . "

"I'll leave," John said.

"And stay away from Aeris."

"What does Aeris have to do with it?"

"Stay away from her. If you harm her, or even step one foot inside her room, I'll kill you. Do we understand each other?"

No, _we_ don't understand each other, you spikey-haired -

John nodded. "I'm sorry," he said. To Tifa, he said, "I'm truly sorry."

He turned and trudged down the hall.

"Fascinating," Cait Sith said behind him. "Another Jenova."

John turned at that, giving the cat creature a hard look. He opened his mouth at a realization, but shut it and continued his walk. Reeve, you sneaky devil. He knew there was something up with that cat. Maybe he should tell the group. No, they didn't deserve it. They'd learn soon enough, anyway.

* * *

John figured one short visit with Aeris couldn't hurt. If Cloud wanted to hunt him down and kill him, so be it. For now, he doubted the guy would deviate from his Sephiroth obsession.

"John, how are you?" Aeris sat propped up in her bed, a tray of soup and bread on her lap.

"I've been better."

"Oh no. Are you hurt?"

"Scratches here and there." John stared at the floor.

"They found out, didn't they?"

John snapped his head up. "You know?"

Aeris smiled. "After you came down so upset at Cosmo Canyon? I noticed your aura matched Cloud's. And I was told I was the last Cetra . . . "

"At least I know what I am." He walked to the window. "What the heck is a Jenova, anyway?"

"My mother would be able to tell you."

"I take it she is unavailable?"

Aeris nodded.

"I'm sorry."

"She died when I was seven. Right after we escaped from Hojo's lab."

"Too bad. I would have liked to meet her."

"She would have liked you."

"I don't know. I'm not sure of myself." He turned back to her. "When I was in that basement, when it looked like Cloud, Vincent and Barret were going to attack me, part of me was wanting to duel them. I could feel it rise in me. The thrill. The excitement. I hate to admit it, but it was there."

"But you didn't fight."

"No but if I had . . . "

"You didn't."

John laughed. "I didn't have a weapon. Besides, Sephiroth distracted them. If I hadn't told them about him, I be dog food by now."

"See? You distracted them, so you wouldn't have to fight them. And you faced Sephiroth alone?"

"He wasn't interested in me. If he had been serious . . . let's just say today I would have a hard time outsmarting a chair."

"Oh John. Give yourself some credit."

"Okay." John sat on her bed, careful not to upset her soup bowl. "But, Aeris?"

"Yes?"

"I'm scared."

She reached over and took his hand.

"I'm not scared of being alone," he said. "I like solitude, to a point. I'm scared of what I might be, or might become. Sure, I'm a cute little goofy kid now, but what if I turn into one of those green monsters, like Hojo did in his lab? I feel like I have a 666 tattooed on my head."

"A number?"

"Ancient myth from another world. It was supposedly the mark of the Beast. Bad luck to have it, all in all."

"We all have the Beast inside us," Aeris said.

"Not you."

"You'd be surprised."

John thought about this. He supposed she was right.

"Tell you what. If you are going out alone, you will need some supplies. There's a spare armlet over there. Do you have a weapon?"

"You mean, something people can take away and hit me with?"

"Hmm, good point. How about materia. Can you use it?"

"With practice, I suppose."

"I have an extra Restore materia in my satchel. You can have it. When you need healing, concentrate on it and you will cast a Cure spell."

"Thank you." He got up, slipped on the armband and, feeling self-conscious, rooted in her bag until he found the green sphere. He held it up.

"Yes. That's the one."

He closed her bag. He clicked the materia into a slot on his armlet and turned back to Aeris.

"There's something I need to tell you before I go."

"Oh?"

"When I was in Cloud's old house, or the replica, at any rate, I had a vision. Raine, Cloud's mother? I saw her die. But she gave me a message." He related his experience, including his doomed attempt to save her. "I wanted to tell him what she said, but I didn't get the chance."

"I'll tell him. And I think it's sweet you tried to save her."

"That's me. Sweet but futile."

"No, really. Suppose it had worked. Think of how good you'd feel."

"You're going to make me feel gooey inside . . . "

"Did it feel like the right thing to do?"

"Yes, but - "

"Then do it. Don't be deterred just because it's impossible."

"Sure. Impossibility is just one of life's obstacles, like death and taxes."

Aeris giggled. "Come here."

John wondered if he was going to get a good-bye kiss. Instead, Aeris took his hand and bowed her head. A warm breeze blew through the room, ruffling the curtains. Soothing blue light flickered around them. John felt refreshed, and charged. Aeris' color looked better too.

"Here. I'll put your soup tray on the desk. You get some rest. While it may be good for your complexion, noodles don't feel good when they wiggle down your neck."

Aeris smiled as she lay her head back on the pillow. "Goodbye, John, and good luck. Though I feel we'll be seeing you again."

"Let's hope it's not on the end of Cloud's sword."

* * *

The sky was brightening with approaching dawn. John did not want to face the start of his trip in daylight, so he looked for a place to hole up. The inn was out. John looked at Cloud's old house. Much as he would like another chat with Raine, he had worn out his welcome with the current resident.

The taller house next door. Hadn't Tifa said that was hers? Couldn't hurt to peek inside.

He crept to the door, glancing around to see if anyone was watching. Nothing but the buggy. The door was unlocked. The living room empty. Pale light shone through the large windows. Before heading upstairs, he peeked into the kitchen.

Two black robed figures bobbed about in front of the stove.

John sighed. "I don't suppose you two live here?"

"Sephiroth . . . left us . . . over the mountain."

"Must get . . . to reunion."

John rolled his eyes and left the room. He could have a more intellectual conversation with a soup ladle.

Upstairs, John found two bedrooms. One was immaculate, from the quilted canopy beds to the antique furniture and ornate area rug. A robed figure stood staring into the bureau mirror.

"Must . . . get to - "

John shut the door.

The other bedroom was also tidy, but at least showed some latent signs of life. This had been the home of a shy teenage girl.

"Tifa," John said to no one in particular. Apparently this house hadn't burned down like the others. And Tifa had some good housekeepers, even if she didn't realize it. Maybe the robed droolers had day jobs.

John found himself seated before an upright piano. He let his fingers wander over the keys, warming up with simple melodies. He was no concert pianist, but he could play along with anything he could sing. And since his guitar was currently in several pieces back in a Midgar dumpster, this was the only music available.

Time passed. Music was nature's time warp and mind tonic for John; sometimes his escape was so complete he didn't realize he had an audience until they clapped. This time, there was no applause; he merely became aware of a presence behind him when he stooped to pick up a letter that had fluttered from the sheet music. At some point, he must have opened the window for air.

"Hi Vincent."

John felt, rather than heard, the figure unfold from its crouched position on the sill. Downstairs, someone bumped into a wall.

"Doesn't the daylight bother you?"

"I'm not a vampire." The presence stood right behind him. John felt too sluggish to be afraid.

"I believe you were told to stay away from Aeris," the sepulchral voice said.

"Don't see Aeris around here."

A metal claw settled on his left shoulder. "Turn around, Jenova."

John lifted his legs and swiveled on the bench. The bright light framed Vincent, making him appear only as a black silhouette.

"Ugh," John said. "Can you draw the drapes? Maybe sunlight doesn't bother you, but it's blinding me."

The silhouette shrugged, then pulled the curtain shut.

"Thanks."

Vincent stared, but said nothing.

"So, did Cloud send you so he wouldn't have to get his sword dirty?"

The blow came so fast John didn't see it. The next instant, he was lying on the floor staring at the ceiling. Not-a-vampire Vincent towered over him, red eyes glowing and red cape billowing. His feet hovered just off the ground.

"Killing me will not save Lucrecia," John said calmly.

Vincent lunged so fast John saw only the last fifteen minutes of his life flash before his eyes. Vincent did not strike him, however. He merely held his face a thumb's breadth away from John's. The expression there was not fiery rage, more like frozen pain.

John returned the stare. He heard Vincent's voice from far away.

"Don't. Ever. Reach. Into my mind. Again. Jenova."

John mentally pulled back as tightly as he could. Hopefully Vincent would notice. He wanted to say it was not his fault, that he had great difficulty controlling his so-called talents, especially under stress with physical contact, but John saw the pain in the man's eyes, could almost feel it in his own heart, as if he'd swallowed a brick.

"I'm sorry," John whispered. "For everything."

How easy it would be for Vincent to draw that metal claw across John's neck. Not the most heroic death, bleeding out in Tifa's old bedroom with a troop of head bumping robed minions for company. Vincent looked ready to kill. But he merely raised himself to his feet and turned away.

"Cloud did not send me. I needed to face a Jenova alone."

John said nothing, not wanting to change Vincent's mind about leaving him here alive. John was sure that hadn't been Vinnie's original plan.

"That song you were singing. What was it?"

"'The Song of My Returning.' It's a folk song from - " he stopped, recalling Aeris telling him not to let impossibility stop him from success. He shut his mouth.

Vincent didn't move, didn't speak.

John sat up. He noticed the papers clenched in his hand, a letter and a pamphlet. The second looked like an instruction manual, something to do with martial arts. John skimmed the letter. It was written by someone named Zangan, explaining to Tifa how he had found her nearly dead and carried her back to town to save her. John caught a glimpse of a wicked sword slash across her chest.

"Ouch," he said, squinting his eyes shut. When he opened them, Vincent was staring at him.

"Excuse me," John said. "Can you take these to Tifa? I'm sure she will want them."

Vincent said nothing. Finally he shrugged and held out his hand. After taking the papers, he stepped to the window, slipped through the curtains and glided away without a sound.

"What a daymare." John rubbed his knuckles into his temples. No help for it. Best to get some sleep. He flopped on top of Tifa's bed and passed into oblivion.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter IX**

 **Visions**  
 _"Stop thrashing. You'll damage my expensive equipment" - Hojo_

Nestor walked down the creaky stairs, expecting yet another tedious speech about the Promised Land. Hojo had spouted dozens of these during Nestor's visit at Costa del Sol; Nestor had paid more attention to the young females rubbing lotion on the scientist's pasty body. Nestor imagined luring a pair of them into a secluded area. To hell with science; he didn't need to experiment. He knew how to make them scream.

"Over here, hee-hee, I have stored the remnants of the Nibelheim disaster. Not any decent subjects left, after my two prizes escaped. What do I have to do to keep them docile? The Ancients will lead us to the Promised Land where - "

"I believe I've seen this movie before?"

"The subject. The last subject."

"Ah. The Ancient, right?"

"This way."

The last time Hojo had said that, Nestor had been treated to a three hour journey through the world of impressionist art. Turned out Hojo had a sensitive soul. To vent his mad scientist energy, he toiled to bring his artistic side to life. Dozen of canvasses decorated the upper floors of this house. Hojo had given them names like "And the Ancients Shall Lead Shinra to the Promised Land," while Nestor had thought "Yet Another Jumble of Random Squiggles" would be more descriptive.

"The last subject of Nibelheim. The new hope of the human race."

"Is it - alive?"

"Sadly, no."

"Then why - "

"The subject is a human female, thirty-six years old at the time of death due to blunt force trauma and smoke inhalation. Nevertheless, I infused the body with mako and injected two sets of Jenova cells. I was hoping the regenerative power of Jenova would revive the body. The mind is probably gone forever, but this was a preliminary trial. Those details could be worked out later. Imagine an army of SOLDIERs being revived to fight again? Shinra would be invincible."

"I thought Shinra was already invincible."

"It is! Hee-hee, but this would make it more invincible."

Nestor didn't argue the point. He knew now that to interrupt Hojo during a rant could spawn a jungle of meandering side-rants that could reduce him to slamming his own head against the nearest brick wall, only to wake up finding an entire week had passed. So Nestor smiled and listened.

"Sad to say, I was not successful in restoring life to the subject. However, I did arrest the process of deterioration. Look." Hojo flipped some switches and the transparent cover of the capsule slid aside. "Feel the softness of her flesh, hee-hee." Hojo drew his finger around the dead woman's chin.

Nestor did not want to dwell on Hojo's other uses for the body.

"However," Hojo flipped his greasy mop of hair out of his eyes. "My Jenova samples were centuries old. Now that we have a young, fresh Jenova, I want to start the project again. Only this time, I will try a blend of Cetra cells - "

"You have Cetra cells?"

"Of course. I took them off the Ancient Ifalna before she escaped. I also have some from her daughter, but those are less useful, given that she is not a pure Cetra."

"May I see them?"

"The cells?"

"Yes. I find this all fascinating."

"I only have a small sample here. The bulk is in storage off-site. Hee-hee, you never know, just when you need them." Hojo opened a small canister, pulling out a glass vial. "Ah, from my endangered species collection. Isn't it lovely? Say, do you know how much work goes into collecting one of these?"

Nestor did not and had no desire to hear about it. He brought around an electromag rod, shoved it into Hojo's ribs and dispatched the scientist to an hour of dreamland. He caught the vial before it slipped from the man's limp hand. Stepping over Hojo, he hurried for the exit. He had to get back to his own lab in Midgar to perfect the next sample. If he couldn't track down the boy Cetra, the living cells would have to suffice for the test. Though he guessed he would track the boy anyway. He owed the young Cetra a favor.

* * *

Hojo awoke half an hour later, wondering what he was doing lying on the floor. Where was that strange gentleman, anyway? He seemed so interested in his specimens. Rarely did Hojo meet anyone with such a scientific bent.

What was this? His fingers found a vial label on the floor. Ah, now he remembered. He was just about to show - where was that vial? Had the man stolen it? Thief! Was everybody out to ruin his life's work? Why didn't anyone appreciate how much work went into tracking down a specimen like that?

Nothing for it now. Hojo verified nothing else was missing, then moved to straighten the lab for his next round of experiments. He needed that fresh Jenova. Where was he? He sat back to plan. His brilliant mind would come up with something. He walked back to the subject, staring at her with longing before shutting her capsule. He then returned to his specimen canister. After verifying the existence of the vial labeled "Cetra - Ifalna - pineal extract C," he closed the vessel and recessed it into the cabinet.

"Now, to track down that fresh Jenova." He headed upstairs to place a call to the Turks. He palmed the vial label in his hand. Curse that amateur Nestor. Did he think it was easy to find such a sample? He tossed the label down in disgust. It read, "Northern Albino Ground Squirrel - Chameleon Gland Extract."

* * *

With a swift backhand of the aurora rod, Aeris dispatched the giant green cricket thing to the great chirping night in the sky. Two others leapt upon the young Cetra, but both times she twisted to the side and brought her rod around to crack the insects across the back. She kicked the carcasses out of her way. The last two steroidal crickets tried to catch her by surprise, but she was ready. The first one she blocked so hard it sent the top of the innocent looking staff right through the carapace. The remaining bug got a couple good licks in before Aeris could debug her weapon. Finally she spun about and brought her staff down across the remaining cricket with a satisfying ring. Every dental filling in the rapt audience chimed along with the blow.

"Excellent," the referee named Dio said. The insect corpses flickered and vanished. "Care to continue?"

Aeris, though sweat drenched and limping, clearly said, "Of course."

"Pull the slots," Dio said.

Aeris stepped up and drew back the lever. Various pictures whirled by, finally stopping on an upright frog.

"Congratulations," Dio said. "For this last battle, I'm going to turn you into a toad."

"What, again?" Aeris smirked, patting a pair of materia, one blue and one green, in her armlet.

Up in the balcony, John leaned forward and tapped the shoulder of the long-haired woman in front of him.

"Our mutual friend has picked up a few tricks this past month."

Tifa spun her head around. "John! What are you - "

"I was in the neighborhood. Then the tram broke down and stranded me here."

The crowed oohed as a green dragon appeared in the Battle Square. Aeris held her staff forward, shifting her weight between her feet.

"Her staff was made by a great Wutai craftsman." Yuffie dropped into the seat beside John. Tifa gave her a suspicious look and checked her own pockets.

"That Counterattack materia doesn't hurt either," Tifa said. "And clever trick, Added Effect materia linked with Transform in her armlet. Makes her immune to the toad spell."

"Almost as if she knew," John smirked.

The crowd gasped as a blast of flame knocked Aeris off her feet. The dragon swept its tail around, and Aeris barely rolled aside. The dragon, a smug look on its lizard face, drew breath for another blast.

Aeris growled, pulling herself to a seated position. She bowed her head. "Great Gospel."

White light shone around her as rain began to fall in the arena. Her staff danced away on its own, heralding three angels drifting overhead. She rose to her feet, smiling, fully rejuvenated, her pink dress once ragged and bloodstained now laundered and pressed, her hair once frayed and sweat plastered now shampooed and styled. The dragon fire flowed around her without causing as much as one split end. She raised her staff and smiled.

"That, is way cool," John said.

"Yea." Tifa glumly laid her chin onto her palm.

"Hey," Yuffie said. "I see Barret and Cid. Let's go pester them."

"You go ahead." Tifa stared forward.

"Ah, you're no fun. See you at the chocobo races." Yuffie rose and scurried along the backs of the entire row of seats.

The crowd roared its applause as Aeris clanged the staff down on the dragon's head one last time.

Tifa sat in thought as the spectators exchanged seats. The seat next to her emptied, allowing John to slip into it.

"Tifa?" he said. "Anything I can do to help?"

She shook her head. John followed her gaze. Aeris was prepping for another set of battles. Cloud was there, checking the fastenings on a wide belt around Aeris' waist.

"You love him, don't you."

Tifa said nothing, though tears sparkled in her eyes. They sat through the first battle, where Aeris clubbed a hapless flying snake. Her next battle involved three aqua lizards. Quickly Aeris touched a yellow materia on her staff and said "Beta." Columns of flame, so hot John thought he himself would be charred, shot down into the square and turned the lizards into wrinkled jerky.

"Now that's hot." John swiped the sweat from his eyes.

John saw Tifa hunched over, shoulders shaking.

"Come on. The lizards were only computer generated holograms. Even I know that."

"No." Tifa looked up, brushing the hair from her streaming eyes. "He, he went in to win her the champion belt she is wearing, so now she's going in to win his Omnislash manual. Where does that leave me?"

John opened his mouth but said nothing, swamped as he was by Tifa's despair.

"After all this time, after all these years." Tifa buried her face again.

"It's a shame Spike can't marry both of you."

"What!"

Tifa's flash of anger slapped John so hard he really did fall out of his seat. Saved her the bother of hitting him. Her face flushed, eyes afire as another Beta spell roared in the arena below.

Well, thought John, he'd stuck his foot in his mouth so he might as well shove it in up to his thigh.

"As I see it," John said with a calm belying the possibility Tifa could shove her foot through his rib cage, "your basic problem is, Spike has all the emotional warmth of a stapler. He doesn't mean to hurt you. It never even occurs to him that you are hurting." John climbed to his feet. "He has feelings for you. They're just, locked under scar tissue."

Tifa stared. The crowd cheered as Aeris flash-fried another brood of unlucky monsters. John began to wonder if under that sweet flower-girl face lurked a raging pyromaniac.

"Believe it or not, this is your best chance."

"What do you mean?" Tifa's voice was still sharp, but she no longer looked like she wanted to kill him.

"Aeris here," John motioned, "was the only one who could crack him out of his shell. She's like a mother to him. Now if you want to be more than a sister - "

"When did you learn so much about relationships?"

"I've had some time to think."

John sat down.

Below, Dio smiled and said, "Let's see how you handle this one." He cast his spell, and Aeris shrank to the size of a garden gnome. The gate opened and five more giant crickets hopped out.

Aeris spoke in a clear, childlike voice. "Beta."

"Am I sensing a theme here?" Tifa said.

"Maybe we should break out the marshmallows."

"So you really think I have a chance?"

"If not Cloud, there are a hundred other sweaty guys in this crowd who'd be all over you in an instant."

She swatted him. "Okay, but - " She blinked the tears from her eyes. "I'm scared."

John took her hand. "I know. But ask yourself. What's the worst that could happen?"

"He could say no." But then Tifa began to laugh. "Sounds silly when you say it."

"Besides, you know he won't. And even if he does, you, who have faced down dozens of bug-eyed monsters - "

"What's the matter, John?"

 _Tifa stood on the iridescent crystal pillar in a subterranean lake. She clutched at her side while her shoulders shook with grief. Her cheeks glistened with tears. She hopped from one pillar to another until finally she reached a solid stone platform, where she collapsed against Barret, holding him as she sobbed. The big man himself looked beaten, head hanging low. Nearby, Yuffie clung to a railing, also crying. From out on the water, Nanaki let out a desolate howl, a lonely sound of pure misery. Yuffie sobbed louder._

"Cloud?" John said, squeezing Tifa's hand harder. "Did something - "

 _Cloud appeared in the vision, standing on an island gazebo. His face was a mask of shock. He stooped to gather a pink bundle from the ground - "_

"Oh no, no, no!"

John was thrashing in his seat. Tifa was holding his arms, trying to keep his head from slamming into solid objects.

"What is it?" she asked.

"The - she - then you - "

"Talk to me."

John glanced toward the arena, catching sight of the three Great Gospel angels hovering in the rain.

"Get her."

"Aeris?"

"I must talk to her. Hurry. It's vital."

"But she's battling for - "

"Go in for her. Get that Omnislash thing yourself. Just send her up here."

Tifa looked defiant but she rose anyway. John nudged a fragment of his emotions at her and she hurried toward the stairway. He felt drained already. And he feared the worst was yet to come. He closed his eyes and prayed. Not to anyone in particular, just general delivery. To anyone who might care.

"Tifa said you needed to see me?"

John looked up into those calming green eyes and shuddered. He nodded.

"You look upset."

"I was. It's just, I saw, I need to know."

"Cloud doesn't hate you. He actually feels guilty about threatening you. And I told him, about what you saw. His mother."

"I can't help what I am. I just wish, I wish I didn't make a mess of things when I try to help."

"That's what Cloud says about himself too. You're both wrong, you know."

John looked down at Tifa, who dispatched a flying snake with a haymaker, then seized a second snake and used it to batter a third. The crowd cheered.

"I have a talent. I make a friend in sector seven, and next thing I know - she's dead. She wasn't even in the sector when the plate fell. She was probably at her desk, doing her job. Then she's lying on a table in the lab, and Nestor shoots her in the head. No reason. He didn't even do it for thrills. It simply . . . occurred to him that he could. He had a gun; she was there."

"But you're not like that."

"I know that. But my point is - "

"Not your fault. You blame yourself for everything, just like Barret does for losing his family in Corel."

That would explain why Barret was always so angry . . .

The crowd whooped. Down below, Tifa flipped, kicking a giant lizard under the chin, then followed with a low kick to the lizard's companion.

"There's something else," John said gravely.

"Wow, Tifa."

John glanced at the arena. Tifa held a lizard high above her head before slamming it to the ground. She must have thought it was still twitching, because she stomped on it with both feet before kicking it up toward the stands.

The crowd began to chant. "Tifa! Tifa! Tifa!"

"If she can't win his heart by knocking those lizards senseless," John said, "she can always pound it out through his ear."

Aeris gave him a wary look. Oh-oh, John thought.

"Did you send her in there so she could impress Cloud?"

John decided, since he was already sinking, why not wade farther from shore. "The thought did occur to me, since she does love him, and is scared. Afraid she'll lose him. To ah, you. I mean, you're such a charmer and all. She - oh boy." He covered his face. "I'm sorry. I messed up again." Then he laughed. "You should have seen Tifa's face, when I said it was a pity Cloud couldn't marry both of you."

"You said what?"

John didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Grasping her hand, he opted for the former.

"Should have seen her. I thought I was going to end up like one of those lizards in there."

"I never, I mean Cloud, he reminds me so much of - the way he walks, I mean . . . I can't believe you actually said that!" Aeris' eyes glistened with tears of laughter. "I mean, it makes a bizarre sort of sense, you see?"

The crowd drowned out her giggles as Tifa pummeled a green mini-triceratops thing into submission before flipping it onto its side.

"I just remembered. Thank you for that Healing Wind you did for me at Nibelheim. I found a family whose cart had overturned and released it to help them. I would have used the Restore materia you gave me, except, uh, I had a bad experience with it."

"How so?"

"I tried to heal myself with it. It worked, too well. I was up three days straight. I ran half way back to Cosmo Canyon. Drink thirty cups of coffee and shove a live wire through your brain if you want to experience the sensation."

"I can't blame you for not wanting to try - what's wrong?"

 _Aeris. She knelt in prayer in a gazebo, surrounded by an underground lake. In front of her - Cloud? What was he doing? Pulling back his sword?_

"John, you're scaring me."

He realized he was gripping Aeris' hand so hard his own was going numb. He released her hand and seized her upper arm.

"John?"

 _Cloud stood, sword poised overhead. He tensed for a strike -_

 _"Cloud, stop!"_

 _"What are you doing?"_

 _Cloud stepped back, looking shocked. Aeris looked up from her prayer, noticing him, and smiled. It was more than a smile of greeting; it was a smile of victory._

 _But John felt the impending doom like an onrushing freight train. High above, the black and silver spot appeared. The plunging figure, the leading sword. Sephiroth._

John fell back and screamed. Hands grabbed him. He lashed out, still screaming. He opened his eyes, found a pair of security guards holding him. He saw Aeris, eyes wide, face shocked.

"Don't!" he shouted. "Don't go to the Ancient City of glass!"

He tried to break free, to go to her, but felt something land on his head with the force of a lead toaster. Darkness engulfed him.

* * *

Voices floated across the stinging desert. At first, John thought they simply spawned in his head.

A voice John knew to be Nanaki spoke. "I'm sorry I hit him. I thought he was attacking Aeris."

"What was that you used, anyway?" a gruff, unfamiliar voice said. The odor of cigarettes wafted across his nose.

"Stardust Ray. Grandfather recently taught me a way to channel the powers of the heavens."

"Remind me never to make you angry."

"Don't worry, Cid. I just hope he recovers. Aeris is very upset. She said he was trying to tell her something important."

"He can do it without tearing her damn arms off."

"Here comes Tifa."

A pause. Then, "Hmm, he looks almost fragile."

Tifa. The memory of his vision of her. So distraught. So devastated by pain. John had only wanted to reach out.

"I can't think he would want to hurt Aeris," she said, laying a cool hand on his cheek. "I know he was upset about something."

"Don't forget he's a Jenova," a deep voice said. Even though he was lying flat, John could swear the voice came from behind him.

"But not our Jenova." Nanaki said. "Didn't he claim to be a research specimen of some kind? Maybe Hojo implanted some Jenova cells in him, used him as an incubator."

"His aura is too strong. Too pure," Vincent said.

"Still," Tifa said, "he was trying to cheer me up when he, must have seen something. He got all, creepy."

"His Jenova urge must be strong," the vampire said. "He's keeping us alive for a reason. Perhaps he reports to Sephiroth on our movements."

"But he didn't follow us to Rocket Town or Wutai," Tifa said.

"That's right," Nanaki said. "Aeris told me he returned to Cosmo Canyon, then came here. Grandfather confirmed it."

"It doesn't look like he's going anywhere soon," Cigarette Breath said. "Let's get to Ghost Square with the others."

Four sets of feet (two moving in tandem) walked off.

John lay in silence. Peace. Hard to determine how much time slipped by. He may have dozed, but he awakened to a familiar deep voice.

"Jenova."

Great. John could almost picture the man's gleaming white fangs.

"I know you can hear me, Jenova."

All in all, it hadn't been a bad life. John was surprised to think this. After all his complaining, all his failures, he still -

"What did you do to Aeris? She is upset."

Play it again, John. "I - I - " His throat felt like gravel and sandpaper. He tried to sit up, but found himself strapped down. His eyelids felt too heavy to open. He tried to speak again. "Ah-Aeris . . . " No use. His mind could form the thoughts, but the voice refused to obey. "S-sorry." He tilted his head back, exposing his neck. Might as well make it easy for the guy.

"She says she has a plan, a plan she owes to you."

What plan? Had John said anything during his fugue state? Anything about the vision? The speck of death falling from the sky? John squinted his eyes against it.

"Do not follow us to the Temple of the Ancients."

John nodded. Vincent must have accepted his answer because John could sense the space had emptied. No footsteps, of course. Walking a centimeter off the ground will do that to you.

Vincent seemed awfully protective of Aeris. John wondered if the fanged wonder had feelings for her. Or perhaps Cetra blood was a delicacy?

"Well lookie here," a new voice said. John almost couldn't place it.

He cracked open his eyes. Wild red hair. Ah.

"I still owe you for that stunt in Cosmo Canyon." Reno tapped his nightstick against his palm. "Nonetheless, we are Turks, and we have a job to do."

We? John opened his eyes wider, glimpsing the bald head of Rude. "Ah," John said.

"Someone is willing to pay a handsome pile of gil for you, and here you are, all tied and gift wrapped."

John swallowed. The gravel in his throat gave way to sand. "Don't . . . don't think you can take the credit. A dog did this to me."

Reno chuckled. "Right after it ate your homework, pretty boy?"

John closed his eyes. He was too tired to bait Reno.

"I see, hee-hee, you've gone above and beyond the call of duty." That squeaky voice. Oh no.

"Hojo?" John opened his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"Hush, my precious specimen." The good doctor opened his black bag, drawing out a needle fit for an elephant. "Now, if you two would hold the specimen?"

"We're not nurses," Reno said.

"No. I'm paying you much more. In fact, you performed so well in securing this specimen I'll add a twenty percent early bird bonus."

"In that case, I do owe this twerp a favor."

"Hey!" John tried to struggle as four hands grasped his arm. "You can't stick me with that jackhammer. Arrrgh!"

"Stop thrashing," Hojo said. "You'll damage my expensive equipment."

"Your equipment? When I'm done with your equipment you'll never have children again."

"Hold his other arm, Rude." Hojo withdrew the horse syringe, unscrewed a metal vial from it, and replaced it with a fresh one.

As the Turks held his arms in tight grips, John felt his anger begin to rise. He also became aware of the buzz inside him. What was it Nanaki had used on him?

"Hold that arm." Hojo leaned over as Rude's hands closed like fleshy clams. John tensed. To his surprise and horror, the needle plunged into his upper chest. John threw his head back and shrieked. A gurgling noise echoed in his throat.

"Excuse me," Rude said, "Can't you give him something to put him under?"

"Oh, are you a doctor now?" Hojo said. "Hee-hee, another man of science? Which medical school did you attend?" He withdrew the needle. "Unfortunately, I am not in my fully equipped lab, else I could excise the entire thymus gland. For now, if you would be so kind as to tighten the restraints on specimen's legs, I would like to perform a liver biopsy."

"Oh no you don't! You dare touch me again I'll mmf!"

Reno shoved a nasty sweat sock into John's mouth. Subtleties in tastes he never wanted to imagine assailed his tongue. He gagged. Wheezed.

After the straps were cinched so tight John could barely breathe, Hojo leaned over and pressed on his abdomen. It felt like an engine block parked on his intestines. Then a sharp, searing pain, deep, as though a scorching drill bit were digging into his flesh.

John let loose a roar rivaling Nanaki. His left arm tore free of Reno's grasp. When the redhead tried to reclaim his prize, John reached for the nearest object - which happened to be Reno's crotch. Reno's scream made Rude jump back in sympathy. Reno pinwheeled and finally fumbled his nightstick into his hand.

"Got it." Hojo pulled the bloody Roto-Rooter thing free. John's grip relaxed, allowing Reno to unleash his static charge. A mistake, it turned out. The jolt not only made John's muscles clench, but the current rippled up John's arm and beyond.

Reno screamed like a woman.

For John though, the attack was nothing compared to Hojo's treatment. He felt the charge of energy within him build, his rage at the violations peaking.

"This next procedure may cause some discomfort," Hojo was saying. He held up two shining implements, one like a thin dental pick and the other like a curved, spiked spatula.

John jerked his arms up and released Reno's electromag attack. Reno and Hojo fell back, the latter dropping his tools of torture. Rude had jumped somewhere out of John's view, probably remembering the encounter at Cosmo Canyon. Reno staggered, fumbling once more for his weapon. Hojo recovered fully and rushed at John, who released his rage straight into Hojo's face. A force struck the scientist with a thunderclap, slamming him back to the wall.

Take That, You Fiend.

Rude's face appeared in John's vision. "Nice limit technique. And strapped down, no less. But the game ends now."

Reno took this moment to fry John with his electric nightstick again.

"Fool!" Rude tried to duck but John's return gift caught him below the chin, as well as flinging back Reno, who slumped unconscious to the floor. A recovering Hojo also took it full in the chest, though he was able to snag his black bag.

"What the hell's going on in here!" Barret's booming voice rocked the room just like the bullets John was sure would follow."

"Get out!" Hojo said "You are interrupting a crucial scientific experiment."

"They came for my liver," John said.

"Hojo." That deep voice, so filled with menace, drifted in like the fluttering of its owner's red cloak.

"Oh, so they released you, hee-hee?" Hojo snapped his case shut. "I'll be leaving now. Though I really wanted . . . no, it'll have to do. I have enough to complete my plans."

"What plans?" Barret raised his gun arm.

"You wouldn't understand. The scientific principles are complex. But, hee-hee, for obstructing my plans, I'll give you something to remember me by."

Hojo lifted a green ball over his head and vanished with a flash. A greenish form began to rise and mold into shape. Guns blazed as Barret and Vincent opened fire.

Still, the creature continued to form, though jostled by the onslaught. John, lying below the firing range, decided enough was enough. He closed his eyes, and released his gift from Nanaki: Stardust Ray.

The monster shuddered and melted as shrieking lights pounded it from above. John could see the dark sky now through the jagged hole in the ceiling. He heard Barret say, "Hey, that was - " before slipping back into oblivion.

* * *

When he awoke, he was no longer tied to a table. He also was no longer injured. He lay in a comfortable bed, music chiming downstairs, sun streaming through the window, and grotesque furniture grinning around the room. He got up, feeling amazed at his freshness. It was as if he had slept -

He found the complimentary newspaper. Beside a tray with a steaming bowl of soup.

"Two days."

He sat back on the bed. Somebody had known when he would awaken. The food smelled enticing. John, after two days of fasting, dug into the soup and buttery garlic bread. Lemon scented tea and a chocolate chased it down. Finally, he felt able to think clearly.

The paper was of little interest. He did find a pair of envelopes, one silver with an orange embossed chocobo on it.

 _John,_ read the card inside.

 _You should have seen his face when I handed him the Omnislash manual. And thanks to you, I got up the nerve to ask him out. We had a wonderful time! On the gondola ride, I almost told him . . . how I really feel. But somehow, I froze. I feel so foolish now. After all, as you say, what is the worst that could happen? And I do - I mean, I really do [erasure] like him - oh, look at me. I can't even write it._

 _Anyway, thank you for giving me the courage to take the first step._

 _Your friend,_

 _Tifa._

John smiled. Holding the letter close, he caught a glimpse of Cloud and Tifa performing (badly) on stage. John shook his head. Without his sword, that guy was so out of his element.

His gaze fell on the other envelope. Pink, with strings of flowers. John picked it up with excitement and trepidation.

 _John,_

 _So much makes sense now._

 _I used to be afraid. All alone, the last of my kind. The last of the Cetra._

 _But now you've shown me what the Planet has tried to tell me all along. What my mother once told me. My life has a purpose, a greater destiny. Cait Sith has betrayed us, so we are off to the Ancient Temple. But even if Shinra gets there first it won't matter. You have helped me see the path. The vision you showed me -_

Vision? Oh no, he had shared the vision? John was stunned. Sure, he had shared visions before, but only with someone . . .

"Who was also psychically inclined. And Aeris talks with the Planet. Oh God."

Dreading what came next, he continued to read.

 _The vision you showed me is the Forgotten Capital of the Ancients. It is there a Cetra can call upon the protective powers of the Planet. If Sephiroth gets the black materia I now know how to stop him._

 _Thank you for showing me the way. You have given hope for the future of the human race._

 _And don't worry. I know Cloud won't hurt me._

 _Your friend forever,_

 _Aeris_

John let the letter fall to the desk.

"Cloud won't hurt you? Honey, Cloud is the least of your worries." That was it. She hadn't seen the rest of the vision. The black spot of hurtling death. He had to find her, to warn her. She hadn't seen the whole scene.

Or had she?

John sat on the bed and slumped forward. Once again, he had tried to do what seemed right. Once again, he had traveled the road of good intentions. Once again, he had met with illusory success. Even pushing Tifa to date Cloud played into the whole dark scheme. For what he had done, none of them would forgive him.

For in trying to warn Aeris, he had brought on the very disaster he had so desperately wished to prevent. He had caused the death of the last known Ancient, just as surely as if he had held the sword himself.


	10. Chapter 10

**Part II**

 **Welcome To My Handbasket**

* * *

 **Chapter X**

 **Legends**  
 _"Mind telling me why I found you bleeding to death in the doorway?" - Aeris_

John felt a swelling of awe and sorrow as he gazed down upon the abandoned city below him. The aquatic architecture was beautiful in its alien complexity - giant conch shell houses and red coral structures interspersed with newer - though still old - store facades. Even the roads were fascinating segmented plates, as if someone had skinned a giant sea worm and laid out its covering. John crouched and felt the hard surface. Smooth. Much too old to hold any impressions of the builders. He stood up. Scanned the horizon. The wind picked up, sighing through the huge broken shells. It sounded like the crying of lost children.

"It's beautiful."

Had it not been for his melancholy, John would have been startled. Instead, he simply turned and nodded at Aeris' approach.

"You feel it too?" she asked.

John said nothing. Just let the tears run down his face.

"I have to do it."

"I don't want - " he shuddered, "I saw you die, Aeris. I saw your friends. I saw it shatter them."

Aeris smiled sadly. "I don't want to leave this beautiful Planet either. And in a way I will always be here."

John swept his hand across the lost city. "Can you feel them?"

Aeris nodded. "The Planet's voice is strong here."

"I don't hear the Planet, but the city. It's crying. Crying out for its lost Cetra. The forgotten lives. The lost dreams."

This time Aeris stood silent.

"Tell me. If you could jump back in time and save them, would you?"

Aeris turned away. John knew the answer. He also felt her resolve tighten. He might as well persuade a train to hop off its tracks and shinny up the nearest tree. The muted sunlight, filtering through the high clouds, caught the clear crystal in her hair ribbon, making it seem to chime with an inner light.

He stepped toward her, slipping his hand through her elbow. "You do what you have to do," he said softly. "I'm not saying I'll like it, but . . . "

She turned back to him. "You won't try to stop me?"

John shook his head. He looked away, then forced himself to look back.

Aeris smiled through moist eyes. "The answer, by the way, is yes."

"Wow. I should have asked you to marry me."

"You're terrible." She punched his arm. "I mean, what you said. I would go back. Try to save them."

"Oh man. My time machine is in the shop."

"Silly."

Looking down at the city below, they both grew solemn. It would make a unique place for a honeymoon. Too bad it would be so short. Unless, unless . . .

"Come on," Aeris said. "Walk me down."

* * *

"You had the boy. Why didn't you keep him?"

"I had what I needed. Not what I wanted, but what I needed. I can always track down the specimen again."

"I need him." Nestor leaned over, eyes boring into Hojo's forehead. "Where is he?"

"Hold this, will you?"

Nestor was so surprised that he did what he was told. That greasy geek had shrugged off his mental attack as if it had never happened. And there he was flipping switches and twisting dials on his new toy.

Two dozen wires led to the specimen, now suspended in a glowing bath of green liquid. Hojo checked the connections, dipped a finger in the liquid and adjusted a dial.

"There. Hee-hee, warm enough. Now, I'll take that headset. Thank you. Now, to imprint the brain wave patterns of a scientific mind."

"I need to know where the boy is now!"

Hojo moved back to the main machine, sliding two red levers toward the top. "Follow Avalanche. He always seems to show up with them."

"And the Cetra girl was with them?"

"Last I saw. Hee-hee, ready to go. Will you stay and witness this shining moment of science?"

"You would be better off animating a blow-up doll filled with lime Jello. At least you could eat the mess when it explodes."

Hojo concentrated on his work, which meant his mind entered Hojo mode. Mutter, mutter. "Avalanche." Mutter, mutter. "Temple of the Ancients." Mutter, mutter. "Ifalna. Last known Ancient." Mutter, mutter. "Icicle Inn."

Nestor was about to leave, but decided to see how the experiment turned out after all. It would be humorous if Hojo blew his lower lip off.

"Here we go, hee-hee, a new day dawns in science!" Hojo twisted a dial. Grabbing the two raised levers, he thrust them toward the floor. The green liquid surrounding the dead woman glowed brightly, giving the room a radioactive look. Blue sparks crackled along the liquid's surface. Hojo jiggled with glee as he fine tuned his instrument board.

"Great minds, great minds," Hojo giggled. "Now for the crowning moment."

He plugged his headset into his console, flipping a switch that lit up a green display.

"Let the data transfer begin."

He twisted a dial and punched a button. Immediately he leapt back, clutching at his head and screaming. Circuits began to overload, shorting out with the sharp smell of burnt rubber. In the tank, the body arched, slopping green rivulets over the glass sides. Hojo flailed for the two red levers. His feet flew out and he crashed to the floor, pulling a spaghetti feast of wires with him. With one final snap, the room went dark. The only sound was the popping of acrid bubbles from the body tank.

"I must say, I'm impressed," Nestor said, stepping over to Hojo's fallen form. A bubble formed in the scientist's open mouth. "The problem with data transfer," Nestor continued, "is you must designate direction of flow. You know, garbage in, garbage out?"

Chuckling and shaking his head, Nestor walked from the room.

* * *

They had bunked in a restored shell house on the eastern side of the lost city. Strange finding a ready made, do-it-yourself bed and breakfast in a ruin like this, but soon they discovered the house had been a center of operations for a scientific expedition, led by professor Gast of Shinra, Inc. According to some notes, Gast was trying to decipher the Ancients' language, and was looking for clues to the city's abandonment.

Both had risen early. Both had tried to sneak out, and had met at the entrance. Both had smiled, caught - though in the brief contest of wills it was John who slunk back into the shell house for more sleep.

Except he couldn't sleep. That horrible scene kept replaying in his head. He wanted to race out and carry her away, far from this place, but for one thing, he had given his word, and for another, she could beat him to a pulp. He had noticed that new stick she carried. Princess Guard, she had called it. Ceremonial weapon of the Cetra high priests, and considering she was the last known Cetra, that made her the high priestess. In any case, the few monsters they had met on the path she had dispatched with all haste.

John sat near the house's entrance, head in his hands. What had seemed so noble, giving in to Aeris (as if he had a choice), now made his heart feel hollow. He figured he had a day or two left with her at most. The bloody scene was rushing toward him like a runaway train.

His eyes fell upon a large glowing stone on the floor. What a curious place to put a light. A bit powerful for a night light too. He sank to his knees to peer more closely. The stone seemed to hum silently with stored energy. It was neither warm nor cool to the touch, but it sent such a rush of static through his brain he knocked his head against the far wall. The blow helped clear his head, though.

"Ugh." So that was the way of it? Well, maybe Aeris could walk all over him and he'd smile and take it, but no way was this stupid rock going to give him lip.

He crept back, approaching the stone as he would a cobra. The stone did not strike him. Slowly he extended his hand, keeping his mind shielded, a hot pan holder on the brain. He felt his skin tingle as his hand settled onto the glowing rock. Like a hot air balloon settling in a meadow, he let his mind drift to the surface. Easy, easy. The energy pushed against his defenses: swirling colors, green, red, blue, silver. A flash of light - almost painful, but he held. Voices, thousands of voices talking at once, but muted. Nothing he hadn't experienced before when he'd run out of medication. Voices, so much information. If only his mind could work fast enough to unscramble the threads.

"John?" The voice was clear and loud. Almost friendly.

"Yes? Do I know you?"

"Aeris has told me about you."

Indeed. What to say to that? It did occur to John he was talking to a rock, not terribly unusual for him, but still, had he taken his meds today?

"Who are you?"

"I am Ifalna. Aeris' mother." An image of a slender woman with long brown hair, wearing a bright red dress with a blue ruffle around the middle, floated into his mind. He couldn't remember talking to a rock this attractive before.

"What has Aeris said about me?"

Ifalna drifted closer, becoming more focused, and three dimensional. John caught a whiff of rose scented perfume. She smiled.

"She says you are kind-hearted and impulsive, but you have good intentions."

Ah. Now for the mallet. It may be a mallet wrapped in red, rose-scented velvet, but he knew it was a mallet all the same.

"Unfortunately, my good intentions are usually only that."

"You are hard on yourself."

"Takes my mind off other things." The vision, unbidden, flashed once more. The wicked point of that sword. Aeris' body, sickeningly limp; her green eyes forever glazed. The white orb, jostled loose from her hair ribbon, bouncing across the stone floor with a cling, cling, cling, only to drop into the deep waters beyond.

"Why!" John said. "Why does it have to happen this way? Don't tell me this is the only way to save the Planet!"

Ifalna was silent, her expression sad. "I'm sorry. Aeris will summon Holy. It's the only way."

"But Sephiroth - "

"The Cetra were born from the Planet, and are its protectors. It is said the Cetra will unlock the Planet, and then the Cetra will return to the Promised Land. Aeris is the last of our kind, so - "

"Don't give me that. What kind of Planet would devour its own protectors? Don't tell me Aeris has to die because of some silly fairy tale. She isn't the last of her kind because of any divine destiny. She's the last of her kind because your parents didn't have the sense to have twelve children. Oh no - " John let his mouth outrun his brain too late to stop the train of thought from hurtling over the cliff. "Ifalna, I'm so sorry. Oh God, oh God . . . "

John felt the vision fly toward him like an incoming asteroid. Instead of hiding or running, he dropped his defenses and let it slam him full force.

Flash. _Four young children ran across a sunny meadow, chasing butterflies._

Flash. _An attractive, middle-aged woman, wearing a gold, red and green smock, stood in a doorway, beaming, a new baby in her arms._

Flash. _A young girl with green eyes wrestled with younger twins on the floor while a toddler, sucking on a wooden chocobo, clapped his hands._

Flash. _A large outing in a park, perhaps a community picnic. Snow capped mountains rose in the distance. The family was there, along with dozens of other people of all ages. One little girl, who now resembled Ifalna, wandered off to look for pretty rocks in a stream, becoming lost in the woods._

Flash. _A dozen armed Shinra soldiers mingled at the edge of the park. Also with them was a handful of blue-suited Turks. (None whom John recognized, though.) A helicopter buzzed overhead; peering out was the face of a young President Shinra, already overweight._

Flash. _The girl in the stream hid beneath a log because she was afraid of thunder. With all the screams she heard, she assumed the others were afraid of it too._

The young Ifalna was spared seeing the carnage, but John was not. He saw it all. Many of the villagers were gunned down in flight. They were the lucky ones.

Flash. _Ifalna, clutching a crushed bouquet of wildflowers, lay crying on top of a freshly covered trench. Three others like it were gouged across the park. Icy rain poured down. The girl finally pressed her flowers into the palm of an exposed hand._

It took a minute for John to realize the screams he heard were not his.

He opened his eyes, and would have screamed after all if his throat hadn't hurt so much. Instead he gazed blankly up at Aeris, who had now stopped screaming and was gaping down at the blood-spattered floor.

"Er," John said as his stomach again tried to turn itself inside out.

"What, what happened to you!"

His insides felt as if they were tearing apart. Something wet trickled down his cheek. Blood and vomitus splotched his shirt.

"Let me help you up." She pulled him to her shoulder and moved him to a bench.

John leaned on a wooden pole, willing his stomach to settle. He vaguely followed Aeris' words.

"Just stay still. Only a minute more."

Aeris released her staff, which danced between them. She went to her knees, lowering her head until it nearly touched the floor. Bright lights sparkled around the two of them, coalescing into a flashy glow on each of them. John felt his pain drain away and his energy renew while he watched Aeris' staff return to her hands. A buzz below the surface reminded him of his newly stored power. His stained shirt looked so out of place he could only stare at it.

"Now. Mind telling me why I found you bleeding to death in the doorway?"

John coughed. "I was that bad?"

Aeris looked at him. "I'm listening."

"I'm afraid, I made yet another enemy. A stupid slip of the tongue on my part. I didn't get anything I didn't deserve."

"My mother told me you were in distress. What on the Planet happened?"

"Murphy's other law. Whatever stupid thing I can say, I'll say it." He started to stand, but his head swam.

"You're still weak from blood loss. You need bed rest. Come on. You'll feel better in the evening."

John did not argue as she led him to the sleeping chamber. He pulled off his shirt and climbed in, mentioning she might want to burn it. Otherwise Hojo might try to lick the Jenova cells off it.

"He will do no such thing. You just rest, and I'll take care of everything. I'll see you when you're feeling better."

Something in her tone suggested this might not be true. Indeed, as she had run off from her companions, she would think nothing of doing the same to him.

"Your, mother, told you about me?"

"Yes. She was concerned you were hurt. Don't worry. She didn't tell me you wear long johns. Ancient Cetra joke."

John chuckled. "I think I'll leave the planet chatting to you."

He lay in the silence after Aeris left him, not brooding this time, just thinking. Aeris' movements in the lower chamber soothed him, almost lulling him off to sleep. A smile formed on his lips as he dozed, because a plan began to seep into his mind. Finally, in one of those rare moments in his life, he knew what he had to do.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter XI**

 **City of Glass**  
 _"Despite the fact your plan won't work, you are a good person" - Ifalna_

Way late in the night, John found himself descending the glowing crystal stairway into the underground city. True to her word, Aeris had returned the previous evening, and had shown him the spectacular panorama of glowing buildings in the underground cave (almost as large as the surface city).

"There's the Ancient Lake, and the island where I'll be praying to summon Holy."

They had walked out to a gazebo surrounded by water, with a series of stone pillars sunken into the water serving as stepping stones. The walls of the gazebo were open to the air, but the structure had a clear, crystalline ceiling. Through a round opening in this ceiling a blue oval of light shone on the floor, the light emanating from the top of the cave high above. Looking up, John could not determine the exact source of the eerie yet comforting light.

"I don't suppose you could pray, say, over here?" John eyed the solid stone beam overhead. Three of the four curved stone supports for the crystal ceiling still stood strong despite all the years.

"No. I must expose the white materia to the light of the cave crystal." She pointed to the bright oval on the ground.

John sighed. "So when will you start?"

"I'll need a night's rest. The ritual is long and tiring. No help falling asleep midway through."

John nodded. He looked way up to the top of the glowing cavern. He had to blink to assure himself nothing was flying down at them. How the hell would Sephiroth get up there, anyway?

They left, returning to the shell inn, where John prepared them an exotic dinner from their provisions and some herbs Aeris gathered. They sat up and talked late into the night, Aeris telling John of her childhood growing up in the Midgar slums, and John relating his rough and tumble cross-country adventures since the fall of the plate.

"Where are you from?" Aeris asked.

"Long story. Short version, I was born in a lab."

"Someone experimented on you?"

"In a way. A power hungry, sadistic lunatic who looks like an older version of me tried to clone himself. He succeeded. Sort of. My body stopped growing after a certain point, maybe some glandular problem from the whole process. I don't mind, except no one takes me seriously. I finally met him, my creator, and we had, a, disagreement. He had a bad habit of torturing and killing people and leaving my fingerprints and DNA behind, which interfered with my social life. So we had a showdown. I had help from friends, but he was still a tough nut to crack. Pun intended."

"Is he dead?"

"He . . . won't be bothering anyone, if that's what you mean." John shuddered.

"Don't worry. You're nothing like him."

"That's what my sister said. Thanks."

"You have a sister?"

"I used to. She saved my life when I was, hmm, less than fully functional."

Finally Aeris began to flag. She laid her head on his shoulder. "I really need to get some sleep. Tomorrow. Big day tomorrow."

"Yea. Things to do today. Die. It all seems unreal."

Aeris sat up and looked at him. "I know I have to do this. But I'm still scared."

"So am I. My stomach is doing somersaults." He tried not to think beyond their warm shell building.

"Do me a favor?" she said.

"Yes?"

"Hold me?"

* * *

So now John found himself creeping down the spiral stairway into the glowing Cetra city. The words to "Stairway to Heaven" ran through his mind, although Heaven was neither at the top nor the bottom of those stairs. He could see Aeris below, kneeling in the oval of light. He marveled at her willpower. She had been there for hours. He was tempted to bring her a platter of hot brownies to tide her over, but he knew better than to disrupt her ritual. Though maybe it could distract Sephiroth?

He reached the bottom, emerging from a keyhole shaped stone doorway onto a balcony overlooking the lake. Not all Cetra buildings glowed, he noticed. He had on his armlet, with three materia: the Restore orb Aeris had given him, the blue one Sephiroth had thrown at him and a new green one he had found upstairs. Comet, Aeris had told him. If his plan failed, he planned to give Sephiroth a piece of the rock.

He wore around his waist a flotation device. It was yellow but thank God it had no rubber ducky on it. He also carried a gray cloak, the same color as the stone of the gazebo. Anything to cover his glow-in-the-dark white skin, and that bright yellow rubber non-ducky.

John reached the lower platform by the lake. Instead of hopping across the stepping stone pillars, he lowered himself into the cool water. Keeping the cloak bundled above his head, he paddled his way toward the gazebo. The thing was perched on a huge stone pillar that looked as though it had been run through a lathe. It was narrow at water level, but bulged outward in a newel post design to hold the gazebo overhead. Climbing the slick overhanging rock was out of the question, which is why he had sneaked out after Aeris fell asleep and had tied a rope ladder to one of the rear railing pillars. He found his ladder where he had tied off the bottom at the waterline. Luckily, Aeris hadn't spotted it. Or if she had, she had ignored it. John tested its support, found it sturdy, then climbed far enough up to shove the bundled cloak under the gazebo's handrail.

He slipped back down and reviewed his plan in his mind. Had he thought it through? He had spent hours pacing the joint, looking at angles and shadows, trying to find a place hidden both from straight above and from the balcony behind him, as well as not being in Aeris' direct line of sight. He didn't want her ritual disrupted because a glowing nine-ball climbed out of the lake.

"You are in the waters of the Ancient Lake."

What? Who had spoken? Not Aeris, he knew. He looked around, seeing no one. He looked down. The image of Ifalna floated on the water's surface. Her image was sharp, though it had all the thickness of an oil slick. She smiled wanly.

John spoke in a low whisper. "I figured I needed a bath."

"The water is reputed to burn the flesh of the Ancient enemy."

"Well, when it comes down to it, water is just two hydrogen atoms stuck to an oxygen atom." Though it would wash away the mess if he started puking his guts again. "Do you hate me, Ifalna?"

"Whatever for?"

"For being born without a brain. Or, in my case, not even being born. I am a cutting from the poison tree. I'm sorry. For what I said, and what I am."

"Yet you spoke the truth. It is not the will of the Planet that our people be wiped out. In fact, if you listen, you can hear the Planet crying."

"But, what I said - " John swallowed a lump. "About your parents."

"You spoke from the heart, and you spoke the obvious."

"But I - "

"You are trying to save my daughter."

"Yes."

"Despite the fact your plan won't work."

"But I - "

"You are a good person."

"I - I am?"

"In time you will realize what that means."

John said nothing.

"That's why I can't let you go through with your self-destructive plan."

John sighed. Here comes that velvet covered hammer again. He almost wished the water would burn him and get it over with.

"How do you think Aeris would feel?"

"Huh?"

"You're planning to take the sword for her. How would she feel?"

"Better than having a sword through her back."

"You know her, John. How do you feel right now, knowing she will die?"

John knew he had lost this argument. He knew Aeris would blame herself. He was not the only guilt-ridden wallflower. And he might disrupt the Holy summon to boot.

"Your backup plan. Even worse."

John looked at the materia in his armlet and frowned.

"Comet materia linked with Magic Turbo. You will blow the whole gazebo to smithereens. Probably kill yourself and anyone else standing on it. Worse yet, Sephiroth will most likely get away."

John hung his head. "So what do I do? Just give up? Pretend Aeris won't be, won't be . . . "

"What was your original plan?"

"Rush out, grab Aeris and dive into the water. But that would disrupt Holy. I gave my word I wouldn't interfere."

"So you'd rather take a sword in your back? Think, John."

"I, I don't understand."

"The Comet materia. Move it to the other, unlinked slot. Next to the Restore."

"But what - " Then it hit him. She was helping him. He dug his fingers into the slot, trying to dig out the little green ball. His wet hand couldn't get a grip on the slippery thing. Around and around it spun. "Ugh!" He wrenched at it, finally popping it free, barely catching it before it dropped into the water. He slipped it into the other free slot, almost losing it again in his haste. He looked at the blue Magic Turbo in its own slot, useless without another materia to support. He turned back to Ifalna.

"What good is that supposed to do?"

"Hurry. Her friends are already on the stairs."

Right. Show time. With a rocket boost of adrenaline, he heaved himself up the rope ladder, flipped open the cape (nearly losing it, too), threw it around himself and stepped over the railing.

For a horrible moment he thought he would fall backwards with a splash, or worse yet, knock himself senseless on the stone. Instead, he steadied himself and huddled behind one of the three support pillars.

Aeris still knelt, eyes open. If she had noticed him she gave no sign. John could feel, something, energy, gathering around her and growing exponentially. Something beneath the ground seemed to stir, like the eyelids of long hibernating dragon. Like movement of lava, its progress would soon become unstoppable.

"Aeris?"

It was Cloud, standing somewhere to John's left. Aeris did not move.

Cloud came into view, walking as if on stilts. He seemed to be struggling with his limbs, sagging from side to side while his hands reached back and grasped the hilt of his sword.

John saw the blue glow around Cloud intensify with each lurch. The sword came out. He stood staring dumbly at it, directly in front of Aeris. His feet and shoulders shifted, moving the sword ever higher. The glow - and the energy underneath - intensified. Cloud raised the sword above his head, his body going on tiptoes for the strike.

John was about to hit the guy with a mental blast of his own when Cloud's teammates shouted in unison,

"Stop, Cloud!"

"What are you doing?"

Cloud jumped back. He dropped his arms and stared, apparently not trusting himself. "What, what were you trying to make me do?"

Aeris looked up at him and smiled.

Now, thought John. He still held his fury, now that he no longer needed to knock a mind-controlled Spike out of the way. What he needed now was speed. Speed! He threw off his cloak and channeled the energy.

Tiny Feets.

Blue fire swirled around him and, unexpectedly, shot toward Aeris and Cloud, both of whose eyes widened in surprise. From Cloud, the blue streak arced to the platform beyond.

"What the hell?" the gruff voice he remembered as Cid yelled.

What indeed. No time to think. Sephiroth was already half way down his descent. John had experienced the world seeming to slow down before - but this time, it really did slow. Sephiroth, angel of death with sword extended, much too close. John raced forward, a blue streak dashing to beat gravity. Aeris jerked her head toward him, her mouth forming his name in surprise. John could see the actual tip of Sephiroth's sword poke through he hole in the ceiling as he reached out, closer, sure he was already a microsecond too late.

Then his fingertips touched Aeris, her arm, her hair. No time for a scalp massage! John lowered his head and desperately tried to put his momentum into moving her, knowing he was too late, the sword had to be piercing her back even now, but still he had to try. He body-checked Aeris' form - and the world flashed a brilliant white.

And suddenly John was moving again. Was Aeris with him? Hard to tell, but he felt some resistance. Some drag. His vision was a sea of milk, yet he sensed the gazebo's stone railing near. He felt an arm grasp his waist as he lifted a foot to vault the railing. His foot landed; he pushed off with the other and he was up. And away. Yes, he definitely had someone with him. They vaulted forward as if off a cliff but merely splashed in the water beyond.

Nothing like cold water to clear your senses. John kicked and squirmed forward. He turned his head, saw a mess of fluttering pink beside him. That dress of hers - not practical for swimming. He hooked her under her arm and shot for the surface, his yellow inner tube thing giving him added lift - he would even welcome a ducky - and suddenly they were through, gulping breaths of air. So. He hadn't saved her from that sword only to have her drown in her heavy dress. He reached forward, and to his surprise, found something solid. A sunken stone pillar, its top just below the surface. And a couple more, above the water, hidden in the shade of a lakeside building. They heaved themselves up these and panted. They turned to stare at each other. Yes, it was Aeris, her green eyes, her heart shaped face, her plastered brown hair, her vibrant Cetra green aura.

"I did it," they said in unison.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter XII**

 **Holy**  
 _"John, what are you - yikes, that's me!" - Aeris_

John gazed up at the crystalline cathedral ceiling in a moment of pure bliss. He didn't want to look away for fear of having the moment shattered. He held tight to Aeris' hand and whispered his thanks to Ifalna.

"Hmm?" Aeris said. "Whom are you talking to?"

"A friend. An imaginary friend."

"I can't believe I summoned Holy. I can feel it, tingling through me. Hard to describe." She smiled.

John lifted his head to drain the water from his ears. He heard Cloud howling and the sounds of battle. On the gazebo, a tall, grotesque humanoid shape flailed back as Yuffie's shuriken caught it in the neck. It threw out a blast of blue bubbles with enough force to pop John's ears, even at this distance.

"Your limit technique is still affecting them," Aeris said. Indeed, John could see the sparkling blue lights snapping around their legs.

Yuffie, unaffected somehow by the attack, flung her shuriken again. It sliced deep with a satisfying snick.

"That thing is a Jenova?" John had noticed the telltale blue aura. "Like my long lost distant cousin?"

The Jenova thing fired a series of blue laser blasts. Yuffie shrugged them off, but a blond man with a pole arm cussed his own blue streak before vaulting in the air and driving his spear over and over into the monster.

"Take that you goddamn mutant freak!"

"Wow." John didn't want to visit the wrong end of that spear.

"That's Cid," Aeris said. "He smokes like a volcano, but he's kind hearted when you get to know him."

The monster imploded on itself, leaving what looked like - an arm? Cloud bellowed and hurled it end over end into the water, where it burst into flames amidst a steamy froth.

"Whoa. Your mother was right about this water."

"My mother?"

"Sorry. I just - I don't like myself having any kinship with that, that thing."

"Well, they took care of it. Without our help. We'd better get over there before they start to worry."

"Wait. Something's wrong."

"You're right. Is Cloud . . . crying?"

John lifted his head and strained his eyes. The whole crew was on the gazebo now, crowded around something, something pink.

No! It couldn't be!

Aeris' hand clenched in his. John looked at her. Her face paled and her eyes filled with tears.

"Who? How?"

John squeezed her hand back.

Cait Sith walked from the group, cat head hanging low. Nanaki let out a mournful howl, which echoed like a ghostly wind in the chamber. Barret stood before Cloud, shaking his head, before he trudged off after Nanaki. John could feel the desolation roll off him like an oily flood. Enough to make John see the hothead in a new light.

Yuffie wept openly, tears glistening on her cheeks. She threw herself into Cloud's arms, shaking with sobs.

"I didn't realize she felt so strongly about me," Aeris said softly.

John looked at the young ninja, who now stood shuddering and bawling in front of Cloud.

"She looks up to you. Respects you. Wants to be like you."

"Like me? But, oh, poor Tifa."

Tifa bent over the other Aeris, stroking her face and loosening her hair. Then she too walked off crying, catching a hug from Cid - who himself appeared to have aged ten years - before collapsing against Barret, who smoothed her hair with his one good hand.

"This is so surreal," John said, looking at Aeris, the one beside him. "I don't understand. How can - you are real, right? And if so, who is that?"

"I, I don't know. I feel real."

Cloud picked up the limp, pink form and followed his crew across the stepping stones to the stairway. No sounds, except Yuffie's pitiful wailing. She clung to Tifa on the way up. The group soon passed out of sight.

"Now what?" John said. His mind still resembled spaghetti.

"Should we, follow?"

"Since the other option is to lie here in the water until we form our own coral reef, let's go. Ow! Ow-ow-ow!"

"What!"

"This materia. The blue materia." John slipped down and dunked his arm into the water. A brief sizzling came from his armlet. "It's smoking hot!"

Aeris peered down. "Magic Turbo? Where did you find that?"

"Nibelheim. Sephiroth threw it at me."

"John, it's not linked to anything."

"I know. That's why I'm confused."

"Support materia does not work unless it's linked."

"But I was told . . . " He looked up at her, at the ribbon on top of her head. Still there, but its clear orb was gone. "What happened to - hurry. Let's go."

He pulled Aeris into the water and motored them across to the gazebo, where they could see the signs of the recent battle. Puddles of Jenova goo lay about, though these fizzled and disappeared with a few splashes of lake water.

"Like hydrogen peroxide," John muttered. He turned to look where Aeris was staring. Several splotches of red, an irregular crimson pool marred the stone floor. John set himself.

"I'm so not going to enjoy this." He knelt in the bright oval where Aeris had been praying. He studied the jagged spray of blood, now mostly smudged or washed away.

Aeris walked up beside him.

"What are you doing?"

"I need to know. I'm going to try for a vision."

Aeris was silent, but nodded.

"Do me a favor," John said. "If I flip out, hit me over the head with your staff."

"I'll do no such thing. Because you will not flip out."

"Don't know me very well. I have a hard enough time with accidental visions. Now I'm doing a deliberate one."

"You only have those problems because you have a conscience."

"But I - " He couldn't speak because he choked up. He nodded.

"I'll be here. You'll be fine. Pain shared is pain halved."

Or doubled. Still, he appreciated her presence. He steeled himself to keep from breaking down like Yuffie. Not that it wouldn't do him some good.

"In that case, do me a different favor."

"Yes?"

"Hold me."

Unlike the brutal visions of Ifalna's family, or even the previous hits of Aeris' death, this vision was as soft as a spring breeze.

 _The clear globe bounced off the stone floor, turning in the air to reflect the cavern's unearthly light, bounced again, again, toward the sunken pillars, where it bounced once, twice, before dropping into the water where it sank, deep through a chasm in the rock to darkness beyond. Just before it winked out of sight, the globe glowed a bright green._

* * *

"So tell me about Holy," John said later as they climbed the last of the stairs.

"I only know what my mother told me. Holy is the counter to Ultimate Destruction magic. A Cetra can try to contact the Planet, and if the Planet answers, the materia will turn green.

"And then what? You have a pretty night light?"

"Silly. The Planet sends forth a burst of energy to deal with whatever is threatening it."

"Hmm. And this energy, what form does it take? What does it look like?"

"I guess it depends on the nature of the threat."

"Which in this case is?"

"Meteor. Sephiroth wants to damage the Planet enough to attract its healing energy into one place, then absorb it all for himself. To become a god."

"Typical megalomaniac stuff. Stupid, too. Punch the Planet too hard, and you're God over all you survey, which would be a ball of slowly expanding dust."

"Don't worry though. It worked. I feel it. And you said the materia glowed green."

"Yes . . . " John did not like the garden path down which his mind was walking. "Now for the bonus question. How long does Holy last? After you summon it?"

"I guess, until the Planet's threat is gone. I've never thought about it."

"What I was afraid of."

"Afraid? Why afraid? Holy will stop Meteor, and everything will go back to normal."

They reached the top of the stairs, entering another spiral shell building. A row of glowing discs, some of them burnt out, lined the curved walls.

"Come here, Aeris." John pointed to a hole in the wall that must have once been a window. "See anything normal out there?"

"Oh, how sad."

Avalanche stood along the shore of a clear lake. Cloud was trudging out of the water, arms and head hung low. In the center, disappearing from view, was a glimpse of pink.

"It hurts to see them like this. I should go out there and - "

"See the problem?"

"Yes, but I don't understand. Why can't I let them see me? Why does it feel so wrong?"

John sat against the curved wall and buried his head in his hands. He glanced outside and saw the group retreating toward the main town, a solemn funeral procession. Nanaki let out another howl, which took nearly a minute to stop echoing around the chamber. A minute later he began to laugh, though he did not feel the least bit amused.

"I'm afraid to ask," Aeris said, "but what's so funny?"

"Don't you see?" John bounced up so fast she flinched. "I've done it again!"

"Done what?"

"Taken a horrible mess and cleverly found a way to make it worse." He sat back down.

"I don't understand."

John tapped his armlet. "Magic turbo, you say? This baby right here - ouch!" He sucked on his finger. "Is still hot. But more important, it can't work without being linked. You said so. So there you were, trying to save the Planet, only I didn't want Sephiroth to kill you. So I'd planned to knock you aside and - it doesn't matter. The point is - "

"And what?" Aeris' voice was firm.

"The point is, I had a backup plan. In case I missed you and brained myself on one of those stone pillars."

"Knock me aside and what?"

"Hey, it's ironic Sephiroth wants to summon Meteor. I was going to give him a taste of - "

"No. You answer me. Knock me aside and what?"

John swallowed, looked away, looked back. "Take the hit. Bite the farm. So you wouldn't, ah . . . "

"Give up your life for me? No! You shouldn't."

"You're one to talk. Besides, half of Avalanche hates me."

"No they don't."

"Sure. Barret, for one. And I don't know why. Vinnie nearly ripped my throat out back in Nibelheim. And Spike said he'd kill me if I ever got near you. They sound like the audiences I used to draw in Midgar."

"Tifa likes you. And Yuffie thinks you're cool. Didn't used to mean much but I see her in a new light. I don't know about Cait Sith. He came through for us, but threatening little Marlene was low."

"Marlene? Oh, the little girl I gave Fluffy to. Reeve would never hurt her."

"Reeve?"

"Remember? In the lab? The guy with the soup? He controls Cait Sith."

"How did you know?"

John blinked his eyes rapidly. "Secret Jenova powers."

Aeris punched his arm.

"Anyway, I'm off the subject. I had Magic Turbo linked with - hold on. I have an idea." He grabbed for his armlet, digging out one of the green orbs. "Here, take this."

"Comet materia?"

"Yes. Hold it so I can't do something both embarrassing and stupid."

With that, he bolted down and out of the building.

"Wait. Where are you going?"

Outside, John plunged headlong into the lake. He forded out to the middle, where the bottom dipped to a deep hole. Aeris - the other Aeris, lay peacefully at the bottom. He fumbled with his materia. Would he ever get the hang of these things? He popped out the Cure and clicked it next to the Magic Turbo, which was still hot enough to scald his fingers, prompting a comment about materia from hell.

He took a breath and dived, only to bob a meter below the surface. He realized he still had his flotation ring on. Oh well; try again. Two deep breaths, down; grabbing the edge of the sink hole, he pulled himself deeper. He flailed about, finally catching the dead woman's ankle. He sloppily wedged his arms beneath her and, shoving off the bottom, rose to the surface.

"John, what are you - yikes, that's me!"

John stepped back to shallow water, adjusting his grip to keep the woman cradled. He caught a glimpse of the nasty gash in her abdomen. He felt sick.

Concentrating on his materia, he willed the spell to cast. After a moment a green glow began to sparkle around her. Nothing dramatic, though. Not that he expected much. He tried again. More green light. He felt for a pulse. None. Oh well, once more for luck.

"You can't raise a dead body with Cure," Aeris said. "Not even with Life, unless the person just died."

John punched the spell a fourth time before conceding defeat. He did note, with frustration, not only were the wounds gone but the body had a healthy color to it, as if she were about to wake up and scold him for tangling her hair in the grass. Still no pulse. John looked back at the live Aeris, shook his head and guided the body back into its wet grave.

"Good a place as any," he said.

"That's sweet of you, trying to revive me." It felt weird to hear her say that. "Are you sure I'd get along with myself?"

"Are you kidding? Maybe Vincent would fight himself, but never you."

"I felt the Cure spells too," Aeris said. "My energy is back."

"Sit down." John pointed to a log. He sat himself. "Let me tell you my theory."

She sat.

"I had a backup plan. Blast Sephiroth with that Comet materia."

Aeris looked at the green globe in her hand and smiled. "You don't go for subtle, do you?"

"But there was a problem. I didn't want to nuke everyone on the pagoda. So . . . " He moved the Cure materia from its linked slot, leaving the Magic Turbo bare. "See? Then when I bumped into you, which sounds like plan A but is really a new plan C, my materia met your materia and, bingo."

"So, you're saying you powered up my Holy summon?"

"Better than that. Remember my talent for snatching crushing defeat from the jaws of simple defeat? By bringing my Magic Turbo materia, along with my wild ideas in contact with your simple Holy summon, I, ah, affected your result."

"What are you saying? That I did not summon Holy? Surely not." She stretched out her hands. "I can still feel it."

"You summoned Holy, right before you died." John smiled in spite of himself. "Holy took on a form most suited for messing with Sephiroth, at least in my mind, and I was the one who messed with your summon. You summoned Holy . . . and I'm looking right at her."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter XIII**

 **Field of Tears**  
 _"Gya-ha-ha! Shinra architecture is confusing to the untrained, right?" - Heidegger_

"Question," Aeris said later as they climbed a tall shell ruin. "How did you think to put magic Turbo in an open linked slot?"

"This is embarrassing." John helped her over another deadfall. "Ifalna told me to."

"My mother?"

"We had a nice chat. Underneath the gazebo, no less. She told me to abandon plans A and B. Do you think I'm crazy?"

"No."

"At least I have an advantage over Sephiroth. Unlike him, I know I'm crazy. Does this shell thing ever end?"

"A little farther."

"A six story building could fit inside this whelk. I'd hate to meet the starfish who ate it."

The giant whelk thing was north of the Ancient capital. The suburbs, John supposed. He was beginning to wonder if sneaking out at night had been smart. Aeris had still wanted to talk to the others, despite the implications, and now, John could not think of a single reason not to go back and join them.

"Here we are." Aeris pulled John up through a hole in the top of the shell.

"Wow. It must have been something, in its day."

"I think we'll have to walk around on the outside to reach that ledge. Watch your step."

Okay, there was one reason. They would have to scramble all the way back down, only to climb back up this endless shell with the others. He grasped Aeris' hand. It felt soft and warm. No sense letting her fall off the edge without taking him with her.

Before their departure, John had sneaked into their base camp for provisions. He had grabbed Aeris' staff, plus a few materia for her use. With her Princess Guard she beat back the few monsters who dared to approach. Aeris commented on how most monsters avoided them, and John assured her it was an "evil Jenova thing."

They were now walking down a narrow canyon that had become a cave. Finally it ended, with a long stone ladder climbing way up out of sight.

They both groaned.

"I'll say this for your people," John said, gazing up at the rungs. "They loved to climb. Shall we take a break?"

"Look out!"

John whirled to see three grotesque creatures clattering up the tunnel at them. What had spawned these nightmares? John supposed they fit in with the aquatic theme: huge multicolored crabs with bizarre appendages, as if someone had mated giant crabs with Swiss army knives. The one in the lead had its left claw replaced with pliers, and the right fitted with a giant drill. To top it off, the drill was a neon green color.

Aeris touched a red materia. She disappeared; through the side wall galloped a giant chicken. It slammed the crabs in a flurry of white haze, snatched its dislodged jockey (Aeris called the cute white thing a mog) and disappeared through the far wall.

"Comical, but I could use something stronger," Aeris said.

John, holding a stout club, dodged the spinning drill and blocked the pliers of the lead crab, who then used the pliers to snap his club in half.

"Better it than me," he said, dodging to the side as a rear crab jabbed a long spiky thing at his face. "Isn't that one of the pokey things you draw circles with?" He barely dodged the third crab's extended mallet. "This is why I never liked that show _Tool Time!_ "

Aeris shimmered green as she cast another spell. Pliers and Drill Bit bounced off a force barrier, but the impact still flung John back against the rock wall.

"Dip this in butter and boil it!" John touched a lone green materia on his armlet. With a scream of a low flying jet, a golden ball of fire streaked down onto the crabs, smacking the ground like a sledgehammer. A cascade of loose boulders followed. John meant to throw himself over Aeris but she dodged too fast, leaving him gallantly defending a mossy boulder.

"Are you all right?" Aeris unfolded herself from the corner.

John sheepishly exposed his rock. "Yea. What a rush. No wonder Sephiroth wants to do his meteor thing." He looked at the pile of boulders behind them. "You're friends will hate me for this."

"They'll get through. They are resourceful."

Something shifted beneath the boulders. Small rocks slid off the pile, one bumping against his foot. He heard a low growl, then the sound of a power tool chipping away at stone.

"Aeris?" He looked up at the ancient ladder. "I feel like climbing. Look. There's a ladder right here."

"Me too. Climbing is good for upper body strength."

"The more rungs the better. A great workout."

Aeris began shinnying up the ladder. John followed, not looking at the rumbling and shaking beneath the rock fall.

Nothing bothered them on their climb, however. The rungs went on and on, up to a circle of daylight above. It looked like Nirvana to John. Finally, panting and drained, they emerged from a cave onto a great snow field.

Aeris lifted her hands to the sky.

"I just love the feel of falling snow. Don't you?"

"I love anything without ladders."

* * *

Nestor walked toward Rufus' desk in the newly refurbished office.

"Icicle Inn. That's where we need to go if we wish to stop Avalanche."

"I don't recall you being president of the this company," Rufus said. "In fact, I don't recall you being an employee."

"Kya-ha-ha," Scarlet said. "He might deliver Avalanche to us. Let's hear him out."

"I'll do better," Nestor said, leaning close. "I know what you really want. I can hand you Avalanche on a platter. And, you? You only need to transport me to Icicle Inn. But I must get there before Avalanche."

"I don't see the point," Rufus said. "We are preparing a mission to the North Crater to handle the Sephiroth problem. Why should I waste valuable resources taking you on a ski trip?"

"Fool!" Nestor suddenly realized to whom he was talking. "I mean, of course, sir president. But may I prevail upon you for another favor?"

Rufus leaned forward until their faces nearly touched. "Depends. Will it get you out of my office?"

Nestor wondered what type of chief executive wore a white suit with a pink carnation through the lapel. He glanced at Scarlet. Now there was the real power behind the throne. She oozed "slept my way to the top."

"Since your brilliant scientist is spending his days in Costa Del Sol playing catch-my-own-hand, perhaps you could tell me everything you know about a young gentleman named John Philip Sorea."

Scarlet snorted. "Two bit loser. Thinks he can sing."

"I like his music," Rufus said, "as long as I don't listen to the words."

"He sounded better after I broke that guitar over his head."

Rufus eased back into his seat. He turned to his computer. A frown began to form on his youthful face. He blanked the screen and reached for the phone.

"Heidegger? This is Rufus. Report to my office immediately." He looked back at Nestor. "Why are you interested in a failed pop singer?"

"Personal business. Very personal."

"Sorry. No record of him in the Shinra database."

"But - "

"President?" Heidegger lumbered through the door. Nestor guessed he must have brushed his teeth that morning, for his breath failed to wilt the president's carnation.

"Please escort our visitor to the elevator. he was having difficult finding his way out of the building."

"Gya-ha-ha! Shinra architecture is confusing to the untrained, right?"

Nestor did not reply. He allowed this Cro-Magnon to guide him through the door and down the steps. In the lobby of the sixty-eighth floor, Nestor grabbed the man's elbow, reminding himself to wash his hands later.

"How do you like escorting visitors like a kindergarten teacher?"

"Gya-ha-ha." He treated Nestor to a breath weapon strong enough to peel paint. "I'm organizing the most important mission in the history of Shinra. I don't have time to worry about mutts like you."

"Important mission, huh? Aren't you afraid you'll screw it up? Maybe president Blondie will appoint that bimbo Scarlet to your job? Word is you not only let the leader of Avalanche slip through your fingers on the Shinra ship, but you handed him a valuable new sword, right in front of the good president. Amazing, the rumors that float around in a place like this."

"How do you - "

"You want your mission to succeed, right?"

"Yes, but - "

"Then surely you can find room for just one more passenger on your airship."

"Airship? What airship?"

"Come now. Aren't you terrified you'll walk right up to Cloud Strife and pee your pants? It could be the crowning moment of your career."

"That's - I'd never - "

"Stay in touch. I'll expect a call saying I am to report to the Highwind for a trip to Icicle Inn. Then you will take me to the North Crater. And if you forget? I might mention some crucial details to Cloud Strife. Hard to keep straight whose plan is whose, isn't it?"

Heidegger stared at him blankly.

"I'll find the elevator myself. Why don't you go back and see if the good president has a new pair of boots to lick?"

Nestor walked down the corridors with a smug smile on his face. He greeted the techs and orderlies as he passed. He even poked his head into the lab to see how his cultures were growing. Yes, now that Hojo was busy blowing bubbles, he had all this equipment at his disposal. Unofficially, of course. No sense raising any alarms. It wouldn't matter in the end, though. Just as youth was wasted on the young, the might of Shinra was wasted on that seedling Rufus. With proper training, however . . .

Rufus, Nestor knew, wanted Avalanche. So Nestor would ensure Rufus would get Avalanche. And if Rufus should tragically become a casualty in the fight? Such were the risks of war. Nestor would give him a hero's burial, full honors.

That would leave Scarlet, of course, but he could foresee no problems dealing with her. He licked his lips. He would enjoy dealing with her. Keeping her around, as his personal pet.

But first, a more pressing problem. How unfortunate the Ancient girl had died before he could find her. That sniveling Reeve was still crying about her. Still, it left the boy, John Philip Sorea, the one the Turks could never seem to handle. No matter. He had probably hooked up with Avalanche, and Avalanche was headed toward Icicle Inn.

* * *

"This is fun!" Aeris sat back as the wind whipped through her loose hair.

John sat next to her in the rear of the dogsled as it raced down a wide valley. Two chains of mountains rose darkly into the sky.

"I'll never make fun of Jingle Bells again."

"Times like these, I could forget all our troubles," Aeris said.

They had discovered the hunter and his dog team camped by a frozen lake. The man had broken his leg in a fall, but had crawled to his sled and kept warm by snuggling with his dogs. When Aeris had healed him and John had fixed him a hot meal, he more than agreed to give them a lift.

The nearer they got to Icicle Inn, the more moody John became. True, he had no plan to handle Sephiroth, but he wasn't worried about that. He had careered through most of his life without a plan, and he had turned out, if not normal, at least still twitching. No, this was the more nebulous Dark Cloud of Foreboding, more troublesome because he didn't have a clear target to worry about.

He looked at Aeris. Her eyes were closed, her head lying back and her hair whipping streamers behind her. That was something. He didn't know when she was going to disappear on him. Something about seeing her there, against the laws of science, brought home how easily she could be torn from him again.

Stop it, John. She's here now, and you don't know what will happen.

But she's the embodiment of Holy. Here for one purpose only. Then she'll be gone.

Stop it! You don't know that.

Sure I do.

Do I have to slap you silly?

If it pleases you.

"John?" Aeris was sitting forward, her hair now draped over her left shoulder. "Why are you slapping yourself?"

"Bugs. Mosquitoes are bad this far north."

Aeris gave him a look. John took her hand.

"We will be fine," she said. "We will handle Sephiroth."

"Thanks," he said, giving her hand an extra squeeze. "Think I'll get some sleep. We have a long night ahead of us." He pulled his hat over his face, falling asleep and dreaming something nonsensical about kittens.

* * *

"Up here. This is the place."

"Are you sure, mate? Nobody goes to Pebble Creek anymore. Place gives me the willies."

John looked from the driver to Aeris, her bright eyes shining in the fading dusk.

"This is something I have to see," John said.

"Well, I owe ya. My place is just over those hills. If you still need a lift to Icicle Inn, stop by any time."

"Thank you for your help," Aeris said, following John off the sled.

"Be careful. They say there are some angry spirits in these woods."

John waved his thanks as the man departed. If what he suspected was true, he couldn't blame the spirits for being angry.

This area was forested, though a blanket of snow covered the exposed ground. John and Aeris supported each other as they slipped and slid down the wooded slope. Under the taller trees the ground lay bare of snow, the dim light barely filtering through the branches.

They stumbled across an old path, now eroded and overgrown, which led them down crumbling steps to a wooded footbridge across a shallow creek. Up the other side, a few turns later, it ended in an open field, the daylight still strong enough to reveal several low mounds. These were bare of snow and covered, surprisingly, with blooming flowers. John and Aeris stopped, breathing in the scent of jasmine and honeysuckle, so out of place in this wintry land.

"It's beautiful," Aeris said.

John took a step forward, holding out his hands as if testing the air.

"It reminds me of the ruined church in Midgar," Aeris continued.

"If what happened here also happened there, I hope I never see it."

Aeris frowned. "What did happen here?"

"Remember when you found me passed out in the doorway? Remember how I looked? A whole lot of that."

Aeris started forward. John pointed to one of the berms. "That one's probably safest."

She gave him a bemused look but followed his directions. "Oh, miniature roses. How cute! My mother loved them."

"That's because they reminded her of her own mother."

Aeris didn't respond. She sank to her knees and bowed her head. John walked around the end of the mound, studying the flowers but glancing at Aeris in case she appeared in distress. He ran his hand through a patch of fragrant violets, catching a vision of a brown-skinned, violet eyed teenage girl whose only fear had been a rejection from the boy she had intended to ask to dance. He pulled his hand away and crossed to Aeris. Even in the fading light, he could tell she was starting to tremble.

"What is it?" she said. "I don't understand."

John put a hand on her shoulder, lightly enough not to disturb her meditation, but there to pull her loose if she became overwhelmed.

"Danger? Where, here?"

John squeezed her shoulder a bit harder.

"I see. But why?"

Her head began to shake. "Angel of death? Crisis from the sky?"

John was tempted to probe mentally to catch the other side of the conversation, but he held back.

Aeris raised her head, smiling mirthlessly at John. "The Planet is crying. You have led us to the Field of Tears."

John pointed to a grass-covered knoll, largely free of flowers. They walked to it. Pieces of a smashed picnic table still lay scattered on the mound's far side. A few buttercups and similar pink flowers dotted the grass.

 _It was here the Shinra soldier dragged the weeping child to the Turk commander._

 _"Prisoner of war, sir. This one's not a Cetra."_

 _"You think I care? You have your orders."_

"No!" John flung himself at the ground, punched it a few times, then rolled over to face the scowling sky. His mouth worked as he struggled to stay out of the visions. Aeris' face appeared. She looked down, but then her eyes rolled upward and she collapsed beside him. John grasped her hand and, damning the consequences, merged his mind with hers.

They plunged into a kaleidoscope of colors. Lights flashed in and out. Sounds raced like a tape on fast forward. John also felt a sense of falling, not knowing which way was up.

Aeris' voice drifted through his mind. "What is it? I don't understand."

Good God. Is this what it was like to talk with the Planet? He stared at the racing colors. Like a super fast film strip, viewed way to close. His head began to pound.

"Danger? Where?"

The predominant color turned from green to red.

"Crisis from the sky?"

"Aeris? What the hell is this place?"

"We are in the Lifestream. Our minds are, anyway."

A jabbering of hundreds of voices filled his ears like a high tide. Aeris' voice continued, just audible above the chatter.

"I've never brought someone in with me. And it's usually nowhere this strong. It takes getting used to."

"So this happens to you every time you speak with the Planet?"

"Less intense, but yes."

John tried to concentrate, to dial down the volume. As he did, he began to pick out snippets of a message. Many fragments piled atop each other, like a fly's multifaceted vision.

"Crisis crisis crisis from crisis from the crisis from the sky from the sky from the sky."

"What, Sephiroth? Meteor?" John said.

"Crisis crisis crisis here crisis here crisis here."

"You mean the massacre?" He felt Aeris' hand tighten at that.

"Crisis crisis crisis you crisis you lead crisis you bring crisis you lead crisis follows crisis follows you follows you here."

"You lost me."

Aeris spoke up. "I get it. Crisis from the sky was the original Jenova."

"Crisis crisis new crisis two crisis new follows two follow you."

"This is why I take my medication," John said.

"Sephiroth passed near here?" Aeris said.

"We know that. I'm interested in - "

The scene changed.

 _A young man, a young father, ran through the trees clutching a little girl - his daughter? - to his chest. The girl was crying and blood was running down her leg. Other splotches of blood and mud clung to the man's clothes. John could feel the terror and grief from this man. He had just seen his wife and two young sons die in front of him._

 _A crash of thunder and the man pitched forward. His girl, pinned under him, tried to pull herself free, even as the blue Shinra soldier strolled forward._

Aeris' screams battered John's brain like a dull knife. Her distress seared his heart. He pushed a pulse of white static at the image, shattering it into snow. Deep through the haze he could make out points of light that could be stars.

"Are you all right?" John asked Aeris. He could sense her trembling. She clasped his hand tightly.

"That was horrible. That poor man, and his little girl, so terrified. She couldn't understand what was happening, or why. None of them did."

"Welcome to my brain. Want to be a Jenova for a day?"

"You, you get this all the time?" Her voice rose in pitch.

"Rarely this strong. I don't often get the Surround Sound either, but this place is powerful. Usually, in a pinch, I can block it."

"I, I could feel, the pain, when the bullets, hit that man."

"That's not so unusual for me. After all, why do you think I was so anxious for you not to be stabbed by Sephiroth? Other than not wanting you to die, of course."

"Do all Jenova feel this?"

"Hard to say. I haven't met many Jenova, and I didn't even know I was one until Bugenhagen told me. But my guess is no. Only a few, shall I say, gifted, feel the visions with this intensity. The one I was cloned from did. Although he - " John shuddered. " - enjoyed feeling the pain he inflicted on others."

It was Aeris' turn to shudder. "You are nothing like him. I know you don't believe me. But when your mind touched mine, during that vision, I could feel your compassion and disgust. Please have faith in yourself."

John said nothing.

"I can feel the Planet calling me. Are you up for it?"

"Sure. I'd hate to miss act two."

* * *

John almost thought he had fallen asleep.

He and Aeris stood in the park, picnickers scattered around, sun shining through thin clouds, warm breeze blowing through his hair. The scene lacked the sharpness of his usual visions, yet he felt the growing dread. He searched the horizon and sky for approaching danger. Saw none. Maybe there was still time.

"Attention, everybody!" John spun around, cupping his hands to his mouth. "Your lives are in mortal danger here! Run! Leave! Hurry, while there is still time!"

He turned, finding the man with the young girl in front of him.

"What's done is done," the man said.

"The past is gone," his daughter said.

A young woman holding a baby appeared by his side. She slipped an arm around the man's waist. "Why do you return to torment us, Crisis from the Sky?"

John looked up at the sky. Saw no crisis, though one of the puffy clouds looked like a chocobo.

"We're here to help," Aeris said.

"You bring the Crisis with you?" Cyrine. That was the woman's name. Her hobbies had been quilt making and carpentry. Yes, carpentry. She had built a sun room onto their farmhouse a year before her youngest son was born.

John crumpled, pressing his knuckles to his forehead. "Please. Please don't make me watch it all again."

"That was then. This is now," the young girl said. Her name tiptoed out of reach as John blocked his mind. In a flash he saw himself and Aeris lying on the hill, staring slack-jawed at the sky.

"What do you need from us?" Aeris asked.

"They're confused, hurt and scared," a new voice said.

"Mother!"

John looked up to see Aeris throw herself into Ifalna's arms.

"Mother, I've missed you!"

"I've always been there for you, my dear."

"Can you answer one question?" The purple-eyed, brown skinned girl stepped forward. John tagged her as Violet. "You are the bringer of death, yet you bring the daughter of the Planet."

"Never underestimate the power of incompetence," John said.

Ifalna released Aeris. "Brothers and sisters, he is not the Crisis from the Sky."

"Though I did come from the sky. And my life is a continual crisis."

"He did not deceive us with false visions," Ifalna said. "He came as himself."

"This danger you spoke of," Aeris said. "What is it? We know of Sephiroth, and Meteor."

"Death awaits in Icicle Inn," Ifalna said. "Of its form, I do not know, except its form is known to both of you."

"Why does it have to be in riddles?" John said. "I'd say I was making all this up, but I might wake up and find myself back in that lake looking at Sephiroth's handiwork."

"You swam in the water of the Ancients?" Cyrine said. "How is this possible?"

"First you fall in. Then you thrash about. It was cold."

Cyrine turned to Aeris. "How is it he survived the water?"

"I took swimming lessons," John said.

Aeris put her arm around John's shoulders. "The water did not harm my friend, because he is not your enemy."

"Jenova," said Violet, stepping forward, "killed our people. Destroyed our civilization."

"Did it?" John felt uneasy. "I'm, I'm sorry. I know that sounds lame. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Now he asks!" Cyrine shoved him. John saw the method of her death. He gagged. He concentrated on her silver and amethyst bracelet until his gorge settled. Cyrine went on. "He says he will help! Here that, brothers and sisters? And he's sorry! Doesn't that make you want to celebrate?"

"Stop it," Aeris snapped. "He wasn't the one who hurt you."

"It's okay, Aeris. I can handle it." He met Cyrine's gaze, unflinching. "I have no excuses for what happened to you and your loved ones. I wish - " He choked up. "I truly wish I could do something, anything." He spread his hands. "You have every right to hate me."

"Can you even tell us why? We were a peaceful farming village. Why did this happen to us?"

John looked from Cyrine, to Violet, to Ifalna, back to Cyrine. A smile crept onto is face. "You know? I think I can answer that."

He reached his free hand out to Cyrine. She looked surprised but took it.

Flash. _A pudgy, young man - the former president Shinra - stood before an older figure seated at the desk. A plaque read, Berk Shinra._

 _"So, son," Berk said. "Mako. Limitless, inexpensive energy. This is the future. Yet some would stand in the way of progress."_

 _"Yes. They call themselves Cetra, or Protectors of the Planet. They are trying to spread their protests to the general population."_

 _"What do you suppose would happen?"_

 _"People might not switch to Mako energy. They may even try to stop construction on new reactors."_

 _"Which would mean?"_

 _"Delays, legal costs, reduction of shareholder value."_

 _"Exactly. Son, you are learning the ways of business. So tell me, how would you handle this sticky situation?"_

 _The boy seemed ready to jump out of his suit. "Simple, sir! Just get rid of them."_

 _Flash. The same room, the same scene. Only this time, a man with a curly mustache and dressed in a blue Turk suit stood next to the desk._

 _"Son," Berk said, "Meet Gregor, of the Turks. He will be directing Operation Black Wind. I have place an imperial escort guard of troops under his command. I would like you to go along as an observer."_

 _"Oh yes, sir!" The boy almost started to bounce. "I won't let you down, sir."_

John awoke, back on the cold knoll, staring at the unforgiving stars. A light wind wept through the trees. Beside him, Aeris was curled in a fetal position, shaking with desolate sobs. John, emotionally spent, rolled over, slipped his arm around her middle and spooned behind her. She cried more loudly at his touch; he tried to pull back but she seized his arm. John gave in and rode out the storm.

Aeris finally turned to meet his eyes. "All those people. My people. And for what?"

"I know. That fat old prez got better than he deserved when Sephiroth ran him through." John turned his head and spat. "Now what?"

"We go to Icicle Inn."

"Hold on. Didn't your mother warn us away from there?"

"We need to watch for danger, not turn back."

"Watch for what? For whom?"

Aeris wiped her eyes. "I don't know. Perhaps something in your visions?"

"Old prez is dead. Doesn't he have a son? And who is that Gregor guy? Never saw him before." John sat bolt upright and bunched his fists. "Damn it all! As if we don't have enough to worry about, with Sephiroth and Meteor, and his so-called Mother."

Aeris sat up. She smiled at him.

"Let me guess. I'm beautiful when I'm angry," John said. "You were right. We should have gone directly back to Cloud and others."

"You knew you wouldn't be able to save those people, yet you still tried."

John coughed.

"They're still hurt and angry, but at least they know why," she continued.

"Small comfort." John opened a clenched hand to find a silver bracelet dangling from his fingers. Not dirty or tarnished, either. Shiny and warm.

"It's beautiful," Aeris said. John reverently slipped it on his wrist.

"Here's to shareholder value."

They stood, giving each other a long look. After a final glance around the cold park, they walked arm in arm off the Field of Tears.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter XIV**

 **Ice Rage**  
 _"You are a preacher. Mommy says never talk to preachers." - little girl in Icicle Inn_

"Yes, I knew a woman named Ifalna. She lived in a cottage just outside of town. She was nice, but sad, until that scientist friend of hers came. Then one day some soldiers came and took her away. No one has seen her since."

Aeris thanked the aproned woman. The inn had a dark, almost romantic atmosphere, though John suspected it was because half the light bulbs were burnt out. The only bright area was the bar, where a group of hard bodied, tanned beach bums sat drinking and complaining.

"You see any strangers come through town?" John asked.

"Why yes. A silver haired man in a black cape. Cold, he was. No one wanted to go near him. He walked straight through town, down the north ski slope. Ever since, the run has been closed. Too dangerous, as if the land is angry. Blizzards whip up from nowhere."

"I can feel it," Aeris said. "The Planet is angry."

"Just like the Planet," John said. "Lash out at the nearest innocents."

Aeris waited until the server left before speaking. "John, the Planet feels pain, but it doesn't know the cause. It's the same when you or I have a mosquito bite. We can scratch it, but the mosquito is long gone."

"Or you can smack it. Why don't you tell the Planet about Sephiroth and be done with it?"

"It doesn't work like that. You remember what it feels like? All those voices at once? Concepts are hard to communicate."

"I just wish the Planet would do something useful. Where was the Planet back there in Pebble Creek when your people needed it? Sorry. I'm being a jerk."

"We're both tired. Let's find my mother's house."

It wasn't hard to find.

The locals had kept the place in good repair, even tending the pots of flowers growing in the windows. Aeris inspected a pot of miniature roses and smiled.

"My mother told me she was the village midwife and healer." She opened the door and led him inside.

"Seems she was popular here," John said, staring at the framed picture of Ifalna and half a dozen women at what he guessed was a church function. "And this. A video collection."

"Let me see," Aeris said. She pulled out a tape labeled, "Baby's First Days." She popped it into the player and waited while John thumbed through some of the other titles, such as "Prof. Gast's Study of Jenova and the Ancients."

The screen flickered to life.

Ifalna sat in that very room, cuddling a tiny baby on her lap. The camera zoomed in, catching the sleepy baby's cute round face.

"Say hello to the world," Ifalna said, taking the baby's tiny hand and waving it. "Darling little Aeris. you are so sleepy, after being cranky last night."

In the real room, Aeris reached out and stroked the baby's image.

On the video, a man in a white coat walked into view. But instead of the wild, spacey look of Hojo, this man radiated intelligence and dignity. Ifalna snuggled up to him.

"Come to hold your daughter, oh great professor Gast? It's a cruel world for a child these days."

"Don't worry, dear. I'll always be here to protect you."

The tape ended.

"My father," Aeris said. "I finally get to see him."

"He seems like a wonderful guy. I wonder what happened to him."

The next tape told the story. The new family was sharing another Kodak moment, only to have Hojo burst in and claim Ifalna and the baby as lab subjects. Aeris flinched when Hojo's guards shot Mr. Gast. John felt her stab of pain at Ifalna's scream.

"Goddamn Hojo." John scuffed his foot into the floor. "Next time I see that sorry sack of - "

"Don't," Aeris said, grasping his arm. "We can't allow ourselves to become distracted."

John was about to argue when he saw the tears running down her face. He held her while she wept into his shoulder. After several long minutes John pulled out the tape and put it away. He selected the Jenova study tape, thinking an intellectual interview would calm his spirits. Typical John mistake, he thought later.

"Tell me about the Crisis from the Sky," Mr. Gast was saying.

"It approached us as a friend. It appeared as our dead brothers, our dead mothers."

John moved toward the screen with a growing premonition of a hammer blow.

"Soon, Jenova revealed its true nature, for it infected the Cetra with a virus . . . those who weren't killed outright went mad and transformed into monsters."

John fell backward, striking the floor with his rump. Aeris looked concerned.

" . . . then Jenova approached other Cetra clans, and gave them the virus . . . "

A keening cry escaped his lips. He rolled to all fours, staggered up, hobbled across the room and nearly tumbled down a set of stairs. Aeris cut the video but the words kept pounding in his head. Infected, infected, infected. The images of feverish victims twisting in agony under the unforgiving sun. Jenova, Crisis from the Sky. And he was one of them. No wonder the dead Cetra at Pebble Creek had been so wary of him.

He held his side as he descended, trying to keep his guts inside where they wouldn't stain the furniture.

"John? What's wrong?"

At least she didn't ask if he was all right. John limped between the beds. He picked up a picture of Ifalna and Gast, shook his head.

"I'm sorry," he said, gently placing the photo back on the end table. He brushed past Aeris and grabbed her Princess Guard.

"John, what are you doing?"

"Stay back! Please. I don't want to infect you."

"Nonsense. You don't carry the - " She broke off in a scream when John struck himself with her weapon.

He hit himself again, relishing the sharp gash of pain against his scalp. He felt the blood trickle down his forehead into his eye. Aeris screamed again. John fled upstairs and out into the snowy wind.

"John, Stop!"

John doubled his speed, slipping and bumping his way into the village.

People dodged out of the way as he bumbled into the town square.

"I am Jenova! Crisis from the Sky! Bringer of death! You must destroy - "

A snowball popped him in the ear. A girl giggled.

"You are a preacher. Mommy says never talk to preachers."

"No. Listen. You aren't safe here. No one is safe around - arrgh! Why me!" He shouted at the sky. "Why me, of all people!"

"Pipe down, you crazy brat," a man shouted from an upstairs window.

John screamed at that, tearing off his coat and holding the Princess Guard aloft. He swung it around and banged himself between the shoulder blades.

"See me? I'm not safe! I'm not. I'm not."

A crack. A gunshot, and something hot grazed his shoulder. John turned toward the entrance to town, seeing a woman in a blue Turk's uniform, flanked by two Shinra guards. John's rage instantly turned outward. He lifted the staff high above his head and charged.

Somewhere, dimly, he heard Aeris shouting at him to stop. Reality finally squeezing into his skull? He supposed he would have stopped had the guards not been firing at him. The bullets bounced off a mental wall in front of him. Or perhaps Aeris had cast a Barrier spell. Either way, they didn't slow him, though he felt the sting of concussion.

The Turk woman, a better shot with a better gun, shot a round that punched through his barrier and smacked against his ribs. A glancing shot, John hoped, feeling the pain rip along his side as he imagined the bullet scraping along his rib. It sent him down to one knee, the staff slipping from his grasp as he whirled his arms in rage.

"Eat that!" The woman made to fire again.

John felt his fury congeal into living energy.

Freeze Please.

An icy wind whipped snow and daggers of ice in a funnel cloud around the soldiers. The guards threw their arms over their faces as they sailed into nearby drifts. The gun flew from the woman's hand, and she nearly bent in a backward hoop under the onslaught.

"Now I'm mad!" She picked an ice shard from her bleeding cheek. "Take this." She pulled out a long gray rod, larger than Reno's shock stick. "Shattering Pulse!"

The medicine ball of gray energy struck him straight in the stomach. He felt himself fly back several meters. His head spinning like a neutron star, a red fury flared again. He forced himself to his feet, even on legs like rubbery lead. He saw the woman groping in the snow for her gun.

"Oh no you don't," John said. He flung his arms and spun full circle.

Twine Time.

Tendrils of earth burst through the snow pack and wrapped themselves up the legs and bodies of the soldiers. The Turk woman was caught by her arms as well. She cried as her body bent at a painful angle.

"Stop!"

His concentration broken, John turned to see a red-faced Aeris. The woman in blue moaned in relief as the earth tendrils flaked away. John sank to his knees, spent, prompting the Turk to launch herself at him.

"I said, stop!"

Aeris bowed her head. As in Battle Square, the warm rain and circling angels bathed the group, including the baffled guards, in a yellow glow.

John felt his wounds close and his energy soar. He slithered from beneath the Turk woman. She made a grab for his leg and he kicked at her, finally striking her in the side.

"Enough!"

John found himself sprawled in the snow, looking up at a flushed Aeris, who held her Princess Guard in an 'anyone else want a piece of me?' stance.

She had hit him. Hard. He felt no pain (the yellow glow conferring a strong protective field). He had to laugh though; she had clocked him a good one.

"Hey," the Turk said. "Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

"You mean Aeris?" John said, winded, his anger now evaporating like a summer mist. "She decided she'd rather live." He paused, panting. "You have no idea how stubborn she is."

* * *

"I'm Elena, of the Turks." The woman had blonde, TV anchorwoman hair.

"I'm John Philip Sorea, part time folk-rock singer, part time Crisis from the Sky."

"I'm Aeris, a flower girl from the slums."

Elena snorted. "You're handy with that staff."

"Not everyone in the slums wants flowers."

"And you," she turned to John, "have some nasty little tricks."

John felt his ribs, now healed, but still sensitive where Elena's bullet had indeed grazed him.

Aeris said, "It's the first time I've seen him fight effectively."

"I can't fight if I'm sane."

Elena gave John a long look. "Believe it or not," she said, "I'm not after the two of you. I want the leader of your terrorist group, Cloud Strife."

"Whatever for?" Aeris asked.

Elena hung her head. "He killed Tseng."

"Elena, he didn't. I was there. Sephiroth killed him."

"You lie!"

"No Elena. He met us at the temple entrance, barely alive, where he gave us the keystone. He had already been stabbed by then."

"From what I've seen of Cloud Strife," John said, "Anyone cut up by Spike's sword does not wiggle around and get back up. They stay chopped into tiny pieces."

"Tseng was stabbed with a long, thin sword, Elena."

"And believe me. Aeris knows that sword." He shuddered at the memory. Aeris gave him an unflattering look. John blushed.

"You're just saying that to protect Cloud," Elena said.

John shrugged. Sooner this meeting was over, the better.

"I have to leave now. Cloud will be arriving within a day. "Though why you aren't with him," she said to Aeris, "is a mystery to me. And why did all my sources say you were dead?"

"Must have been some other Aeris," John said.

Elena snorted, motioning to her two guards who gulped down their drinks, and left the restaurant.

John held out his hands. "See? Even when I tell the truth they don't believe me."

Aeris shook her head, but smiled. "What do you think Elena's going to do? With Cloud?"

"Probably slap him. She's not as dumb as she acts."

"Should we wait for the others?"

"I think we should try to catch Sephiroth. Maybe slow him down. Of course, I'm crazy, so don't believe anything I say."

"You're not crazy, John."

"Yea? Ask anyone in this town."

"Maybe a little crazy. Remember what I told you?"

"What, after you hit me with your stick?"

"Like you didn't deserve it? Anyway, I watched the rest of the tapes. The virus, the virus that killed my people, it was something manufactured. Not something you carry. Understand? And this was two thousand years ago."

John hung his head, but nodded. Aeris clasped his hand.

"So next time you feel a breakdown coming on, talk to me, okay? Don't start pounding yourself with my staff."

John took a deep, shuddering breath. "I'm sorry. Just this whole thing - one atrocity after another. I feel so sick."

"That's okay. It's natural. It's human."

"Not that either of us are."

"Human is not just the species. It's the feeling, the caring. All else is appearance. Take Nanaki. No one would confuse him for a human outright, but once you get to know him, you realize inside he's no different from us."

"His Stardust Ray packs a mean punch," John said.

"He felt bad about that. He told me. Anyway - "

"I got it!" John stood so suddenly Aeris snatched her staff out of his reach.

"What?"

"How could I be so stupid!"

The restaurant patrons were staring at him.

"Do you want an answer?" Aeris asked.

John sat. "Nestor. That creep Nestor."

"Who?"

"Remember in the lab? When I first met you?"

"A lot of things happened."

"A guy in a suit. He walked in, demanding to see the Cetra?"

"Oh. I remember."

"He thought I was a Cetra because I shot off your Healing Wind."

"You fooled all of us. By the way, how did you - "

"In his briefcase he had three drug vials. One of them he tried to inject into me. I dodged, and he injected the table. The other vials - after I got a vision off them, I chucked them into the incinerator. Aeris, those vials. They contained the Cetra disease. Nestor is trying to bring back the Cetra plague."

Aeris stared at him. "The bringer of death."

"Yes. And I'll bet he's right here in town."

"That's what Mother meant. Death awaits in Icicle Inn. But why, why start the Cetra plague? When I'm the only Cetra?"

"Perhaps you aren't. Perhaps, Shinra and the Turks missed some."

"And Nestor's trying to finish the job. How could he? Haven't my people suffered enough?"

"We need to leave town. Now."

"I agree." She stood, then put her hand to her forehead and gripped the table for support.

"What's wrong?"

"Feeling a little faint. All this talk about the plague. Don't worry. It's not that. It'll pass. I'm just tired. That's all."

John could not read anything wrong as he helped her to the door. She soon recovered, and John turned his thoughts to finding a way out of town.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter XV**

 **Camp Out**  
 _"So you'd rather kiss me than die?" - Aeris_

Nestor stared out the frosted window at the two Ancients walking along the icy path. They make a cute couple, he thought, sneering, though the girl was robbing the cradle. That pale boy couldn't be more than twelve. Beggars couldn't be choosers, he supposed. The two nits were probably already doing the hanky-panky, desperate to revive their doomed race. He smiled at the image. Yes. That was it. That was why he hadn't killed them both right off when he saw them enter the village yesterday. They were entertaining. Perhaps he would capture them, make them perform for him. He looked down at his hands, and saw they were shaking. Yes. They would perform for him. Amuse him. Then he would dispose of them. Personally.

The two paused outside a boutique, seemingly arguing with a Shinra foot soldier. Maybe they would get into another brawl for him, just like last night with that silly female Turk. Had the Turks sunk so low they were recruiting from brothels? He scowled. How far the Turks had fallen. In his father's day . . .

He pushed the thought, and its associated rage, away from his mind. Outside, the Ancient pair were walking away from the soldier, laughing. They had probably scrambled the poor lad's brain, making him think he was a rare species of tree moss.

Those two. They were a slippery pair, but he had learned a lot in the last few days. About the terrorists called Avalanche. That bubble-headed blonde (Lena? Ehlonna?) had said they were due in town this evening. But first things first.

He felt the smooth, cold metal of the rifle lying across his lap. Loaded with trank darts, not bullets; he could not very well test his new serum if the subjects were dead. There. Almost time.

He shoved the window open. It glided almost silently. Shinra technology in this backwater pond village. He rested the barrel on the window sill. Keeping the pair in sight, he lowered his eyes to the sights and raised the gun.

The girl first. A day ago he would have taken down the boy, as he had shown himself to have surprisingly unpredictable talents, but Nestor had seen the girl invoke the dreaded Great Gospel, a Cetra power he had thought a myth until he had read Hojo's notes detailing the havoc the girl's mother had caused with it during her three escapes from his labs, the final one being the one where Hojo had finally destroyed her. Least the bitch could have done was take the bumbling quack out with her.

There. The Ancient pair were sideways to him, holding an animated conversation. He sighted on the girl.

"Hold still, honey. Soon you will be in papa's arms - "

What the hell? In the blink of his eye, they had disappeared! He jerked his head up and squinted at the spot. There. They had to be there. They couldn't vanish. They weren't ghosts. Could that low hedge be hiding them? In the snow, yes. They must have dropped to the earth. He wished he had some live rounds so he could spray hot lead into their hidey hole, but . . . he had to opt for finesse. Still, he could play their game. It annoyed him, but he did enjoy the sport of the hunt.

Keeping his gaze glued to the spot, he pushed the window all the way open. He shoved his leg through the opening. Still watching for his quarry, he slid out onto the outside sill, preparing to drop to the ground below.

He had not anticipated the ground's slight slope, nor the mangy mutt he nearly landed on. The dog snarled and bit his pant leg. In a lapse he knew he would regret, Nestor swung the rifle butt, clubbing the mutt's head. The dog went down with a yelp. A woman nearby screamed. Nestor screamed himself when he saw the pair of Ancients darting around the oversized battle tank the blonde Turk had driven into town. Damn ostentatious bitch. He fired off a wild shot. Idiot. Here he was wasting his ammo when he should be giving chase.

Ignoring the angry yells around him, Nestor leaped forward and tore after his prey.

* * *

"Would you look at that. What's wrong with this picture?"

John's gaze wandered up and down the quaint street, past the dogsleds, the occasional snowmobile to the hulking gray mega-Jeep, its frame a full meter off the ground, its tires as wide as rum kegs.

"It has a mako engine," Aeris said. "Burning up the Lifestream of the Planet. Just to keep from walking to the store."

"Maybe we can pull one of the tires off and use the inner tube to sled down the hill."

"Be serious, John. Look at the size of that thing."

"It needs to be big enough for both of us. I'd hate to undo two of those tires."

"We're not going to - "

"Hey kids!"

"Huh?" John eyed the Shinra soldier.

"That's an expensive piece of equipment. You street kids had better not scratch it."

"You lucky I'm in a good mood," John said. "Else you might using that helmet as a chamber pot."

"You getting smart with me?"

Aeris inserted her rod between the two of them. "Don't hurt the poor guard, John. He can't help being a faceless minion of Shinra."

"We're leaving," John said, tugging on Aeris.

The guard blocked their path, so they stepped over a low hedge. The guard made to follow but John gave him a sharp stare. The soldier shook his head, giving a blank look (best he could manage behind that mask) and walked back toward the inn.

Suddenly Aeris rounded on John.

"What were you thinking? Do you have to pick a fight with every soldier? I might start calling you Barret."

"Come on. Tifa would - "

 _Danger!_ John did not ponder the premonition. He flung himself against Aeris, knocking her flat on her back. She opened her mouth to cry out. Finding his hands underneath her back, John covered her mouth the only way possible: with his.

Aeris' green eyes grew as large as hard boiled eggs.

"Mmf?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Mm-mmf!"

"Hmm-mm."

Aeris twisted sideways, knocking John aside. He clung to her but their lips separated.

"Quiet!" John whispered. "He's out there. Watching for us."

"What are you doing?"

"Shh. Nestor is here somewhere."

"So you gave me a kiss?"

"No. I mean, yes, but I had to keep you quiet. That's all."

Aeris looked disappointed.

"Not that you aren't kissable."

She wrinkled her brow. "Kissable?"

"This was life and death. I had to act."

Somewhere, a dog snarled.

"So you'd rather kiss me than die?"

"No. I mean, yes, of course I'd rather . . . who wouldn't want - let's go! Come on. Now!"

John jerked Aeris to her feet. He was surprised at his strength, and also by her acquiescence.

A scream filtered from down the street. John stumbled to a halt next to the monster truck, Aeris skidding into him, knocking him against the icy metal.

"You'd better have an explanation for your behavior," she said.

"Look." He pointed at something metallic in the snow. "A drug dart. Probably filled with that Cetra plague virus."

Aeris paled. Her body began to tremble. "We, we have to go."

"Get down!"

John twisted, pulling Aeris down on top of him, aided by his feet slipping on the wet ground. After barking his shin on metal, he landed in a drift of gravel and ice, sending a thousand needles of pain into his back.

A dart stuck itself in one of the oversized tires.

They both peered along the sidewalk to see Nestor pop into view, leveling his rifle at them.

"Off!" John shoved Aeris aside, then released the energy of Elena's gift. "Shattering Pulse!"

A shocked Nestor flew back out of sight, along with a blast of snow and broken tree branches.

John fell back, spent. Aeris tugged him to his feet.

"Come on. In here."

"Huh?" Then he noticed she had the Hummer's door open.

"It was unlocked. Hurry."

John scrambled up and across the seats. Aeris jumped in after him.

"There he is. Lock the doors. Oh look, the keys are in the ignition. Can you drive this, John? Oh, you're hurt."

John glanced absently at the blood trickling down his forearm before turning his attention to the crazed Nestor trying to bash in the driver's side window with a block of ice.

"Can I drive? Sure. How hard can it be?"

He turned the key and the engine fired up. Luckily, an automatic transmission: he shifted into drive. Glass spider-webbed in his window. He stomped on the accelerator. A big roar, but no movement.

"Parking brake," Aeris said.

"Ah." Chunks of glass rained down onto his lap and shoulder. He pressed the pedal. The Hummer pulverized an empty wooden cart and nearly hit a store wall as John fought with the steering.

"Buckle up!" The top of the ski slope beckoned. A man waved for them to stop, then dived out of the way. In the rear view mirror, Nestor and two Shinra soldiers raced after them.

"Reminds me of a joke." John clicked on his harness. "I'd rather die peacefully, like my grandpa in his sleep, not screaming, like the passengers in his car."

John put on a burst of speed. He saw Nestor lying in a heap after presumably trying to leap for the rear bumper. Shinra bullets pinged off the rear. Then the ground dropped away below them.

"Ah!"

"John?"

"Whoa!"

"Look Out!"

"What's that?"

"A balloon, John."

"Out here?"

"You score points for hitting it."

"Shucks. I missed it."

"Only thing so far."

"So many turns!"

"Yikes, John!"

"What was that?"

"A log?"

"Felt like a house."

"You can use the steering wheel, you know."

"I am."

"It's for steering around - Oh God!"

"I got a balloon."

"And a boulder."

"Just clipped it."

"You lost a wheel!"

"We have extras."

"No!"

"Low bridge!"

"How, how did you do that?"

"What, the slide up the embankment thing?"

"Bridges are for going under, John."

"Hey, who built these snowmen?"

"John?."

"Yes?"

"I'd like to live, if that's okay with you."

"Oh no."

"Yikes!"

"Steep up ahead. Hold on, Aeris."

"Watch those curves!"

"How quaint. A young evergreen forest, out here."

"Go around them, John!"

"Hey, that was a pine tree."

"John!"

"What's one pine tree doing in a fir forest?"

"I can't watch anymore."

"One lonely pine tree. It goes through life, feeling so different, so alone."

"John!"

"Yes?"

"You almost missed that one!"

"I'm getting better. See?"

"You said you knew how to drive!"

"I do. I just didn't pass the driving test."

"Not more curves . . ."

"Ouch. What was that?"

"Now I know how Yuffie feels," Aeris said.

"Felt like we hit a train."

"If there's one out here, you'll find a way to hit it."

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow."

"Are we stopped?"

"Appears so. Only flat ice ahead of us."

"I can't believe we're stopped. My head. My stomach. I think they switched places."

"It's smooth sailing now, Aeris."

"Let's not do that again, okay?"

"Gotchya. From here on, it's straight roads. No stops. All we have to do is wait for this glacier to melt and Shinra to build a superhighway."

"John?"

"Ow, that hurts."

"John?"

"Feels like I just had a date with Tifa."

"John! There's no ground down there?"

"What do you mean? I see ice to the horizon."

"I'm looking down, and I swear there's nothing but air."

"Really? Let me see." He leaned over to peer out her window. Too late, he felt the vehicle tip.

"Noooo!"

The fall was quick and brutal. They smashed to the ground, wheels up. John's head smacked against the bowed ceiling, but he hardly felt the pain, since the seat belt had given his crotch the Heimlich maneuver.

"You okay?" Aeris gasped.

"Yea. Fine. No harm done, because, I'm a soprano already. Ow, ow, ow."

"I think. This. Will release - yikes! - us."

John groaned. "Beware. The Jenova pretzel."

"Anything broken?"

"My pride, such as it is."

"I'm banged up too. Hold on."

A breeze drifted through the battered cabin. John felt the warmth seep back into his bones. File that one for later. He wondered how many abilities he could store like that. As long as he kept track -

"Aeris? What's wrong?"

"I feel so . . . weak. I can barely, lift my head."

"Hold on." She must be injured internally. John spun his armlet around and studied the materia. "Not Comet. Not Comet. The other one. Restore." The green orb glowed, as did its companion blue.

"Oh boy."

A rush of magic energy swirled around Aeris. John clamped his jaws and awaited disaster.

Aeris stirred. "Thanks. I think I was . . . light headed. Dizzy, after the fall. Concussion perhaps."

"But you're better now?"

"I don't feel any pain." She stretched her limbs. "Everything works."

"Let's get out then. See where we are."

With great effort, the two of them extracted themselves from the overturned vehicle. They leaned against one of the blue-white walls of the chasm, gazing at the Hummer, which now looked like King Kong's Hacky Sack. They managed to root out some supplies - heavy clothing and military packs. Those Shinra soldiers had better content themselves securing the drink tables in the bar.

"Path looks clear," John said. "Reckon Sephiroth is that direction?"

"Go north, past the snow fields. That's north."

"How handy the crevasse points the right direction."

They started off. The path zigzagged like an angry river, but kept in a northerly direction. Though sometimes narrow enough to make them walk single file, and cluttered enough to make them scramble over boulders and ice chunks, they made good time.

"It will be dark soon," Aeris said. Already the sun barely touched the top of the ice canyon walls. "We'll have to find shelter."

"Plenty of ice to freshen our drinks."

"Maybe something will turn up."

They continued. Soon, the path forked; they chose the path to the right but turned back after hearing a deep growl up ahead.

"I'll take door number two," John said, quickening his pace.

"Looks like we get to make another choice soon."

Indeed, the new path ahead split into two, an ice ledge slanting upward and the main path deepening into the frigid gloom. Either one could be a dead end.

"Let's take the high road," John said. "Best of both worlds. Still trapped in a crevasse too steep to climb, while preserving the exciting chance of falling to our deaths."

"John, you should wear a happy face button for all your positive outlook."

Upward. Their journey had its steep moments, but overall their path sloped gently enough to make their walk comfortable. John had hoped the ledge would soon take them to the surface, though when he felt the occasional stiffening breeze, he rethought his wish. Up there, the cold would be brutal. Down here, it was merely life threatening.

"We must rest soon," John said, noticing Aeris' pallor.

The young Cetra grasped a pillar of ice for support, breathing heavily. She nodded.

"Over there? Looks like an ice cave," John said.

They trudged, heads down. Now that they had slowed, John realized how hungry he was.

Aeris pointed to a concave entrance. They undid their packs and entered. Looking weary as the world, Aeris slumped with her back against the ice.

"Too bad we can't build a fire," John said. "No fuel, and we don't want to melt our cave."

"Pile some rocks." Aeris looked like she needed help holding her eyes open. Rather than continue to speak, she tapped a green materia on her armlet.

"Fire materia?" John said. "Gotchya."

Rocks lay strewn all over the cave, with larger ones outside. He formed a base of small rocks, then tiers of bigger ones, followed by a large round rock perched in the center.

Aeris managed to summon enough energy to cast a fire spell on the large rock, maintaining the spell until the rock glowed. The cave warmed enough for John to remove his outer coat.

"You'll feel better with food inside you," he said. They hadn't hauled a camp stove with them, but John had grabbed a frying pan and a ring stand that fit nicely over the glowing rock. "Lucky for us, that Elena is too squeamish to eat military rations." John held up a package of stir fry noodles. "Looks like she's a vegetarian, but one with taste. I'd hate to find out I'd stolen some tofu oat-flake loaf."

Aeris smiled. As the meal cooked she pulled off her gloves and held her hands in front of the hot rock. "Smells wonderful."

"Good to see some color back in your face."

"I didn't realize how cold and tired I was, until we stopped."

"I'm worried about you, Aeris. What's wrong?"

For a long time she said nothing. "I, I guess I need to conserve my strength."

"Any ideas on how we pop Sephiroth when we meet him?"

Aeris shook her head. John served the food and they ate in silence.

Maybe I should conserve my strength too, John thought. Even with his natural cold resistance, he could feel the glacier suck the warmth right out of him.

He looked at their bedrolls and frowned. These were made for cold weather, but hardly the arctic deep freeze around them. They also had a pair of Mylar-like blankets and the heavy coats they were sitting on.

John said, "We'll never live this down, but I have an idea."

Aeris threw another fire spell at the rock, turned to him and smiled.

* * *

"If you ignore our being lost on a frigid glacier, this is like a junior camp out." John had zipped the two sleeping bags together. With the blankets and their coats piled on top, they spooned in the fading red glow of their cave.

Aeris had her arm around his middle. John had insisted she curl up behind him, lest her hair try to climb down his throat in the dark.

"Tell me," Aeris said. "Back there in Icicle Inn. When you, saved me? Was that all it was? A wild impulse of yours?"

"Saving a life has to be an impulse. If I'd stopped to weigh the odds - "

"You kissed me, John."

"I had to keep you from crying out."

"You kissed me."

"It worked, didn't it?"

"But, you kissed me."

"And I'd do it again, should you be in danger like that."

"I have to be in danger?"

"Deadly peril is best, though I would consider it, even if you were about to step on a banana peel."

"You know? You are in just the right position for a noogie."

"See if I ever kiss you again."

"Oh?"

"What would your mother think? Her only daughter. Kissing a Jenova."

"Want me to ask her?"

"Uhm . . . "

"So it meant nothing?"

"No. I mean, not nothing. It was a convenient - "

"Wait." She sent another burst of fire magic at the rock, brightening the cave.

"I was right. You are blushing."

"It's the heat."

"It's freezing in here."

"In that case don't bother with the magic. Just warm your hands on my face."

"So it did mean something."

John was silent.

"Do you have a crush on me?"

John stiffened. "If you don't stop picking on me," he said, turning his head to face her, "I'll have to kiss you again."

"Oh?"


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter XVI**

 **Cats and Dogs**  
 _"Cloud has always had his, moments, but when he swore he saw a flying wolf wearing Aeris' dress we thought we had lost him for good." - Tifa_

From a pleasant dream about Aeris walking in a meadow of flowers, John awoke to a hot tongue lapping at his face. He flinched and opened his eyes. Two yellow eyes stared back from behind a gray muzzle. Breath as foul as week-old dead goats blasted him square in the face.

"Aeris . . . what big teeth you have."

The overgrown wolf thing licked its chops, releasing a dollop of drool.

"Yuck!" John tried to squirm free, but Aeris, apparently having a much more pleasant dream, tightened her grip.

The wolf thing growled. Aeris awoke with a start. The beast bared its teeth, then turned and urinated in the cooking pot.

"That does it!" John wrenched himself free of the clinging Aeris, grabbed her Princess Guard and tried to fend off the beast. In such close quarters he couldn't swing it - lucky for him - so the best he could do was jab with its end. The wolf apparently thought John wanted to play fetch, for it locked its jaws around the staff, its teeth making cat on a blackboard sounds against the metal.

The wolf backed up, pulling the staff and John. Thinking Aeris would be displeased if he gave away her Ancient temple priest weapon as a dumbbell, John ran his hands along her materia, searching for something that would not kill them all. He considered the ChocoMog summon, but dismissed it with a "Naw." Hey, now this one felt interesting.

A tornado shaped hand seized the wolf and everything nearby, flinging it all from the cave. John had to brace his body to keep from flying free himself.

"Take that, you overgrown poodle!"

John turned back to Aeris, who sat bundled up in the remains of their bedding. She raised her hands in exasperation.

John said, "What did I just do?"

"You cast Remove. You removed the glacier wolf from combat. Along with the campfire stones, our cooking utensils, our food supplies, our canteens, our backpacks, our change of clothes and every loose chunk of ice in this cave. Luckily, I held onto our coats and shoes.

"So I did bad."

"Not bad, though we'll have to hunt our breakfast."

"Sorry, Aeris."

"That's okay. I always wanted to explore the glacier in my pajamas. I never got to go to slumber parties as a child."

"Maybe we can wear the sleeping bags. Make it a three-legged race."

"We'll wrap these silver blankets around ourselves, then put on our coats. Hopefully we won't need our climbing tools to get out of this crack."

"If we do, I'll cast Remove on us."

Aeris shook her head vigorously. "Let's consider other options first."

John nodded as they gathered their remaining belongings. As they were leaving, he spotted something glimmering in the freshly scoured ice.

"What's that?"

"Looks like a summon materia." Aeris aimed a fire spell at the ice. John squatted to dig it out.

"Let me see," Aeris said. "Never heard of this one. Little Bo-Peep materia."

"Little Bo-Peep? What a joke. Just my luck. Now we can call some sheep to feed those wolves." He clicked it into his armlet.

"Be careful with that."

"You bet. Materia and I have an agreement. I don't use them very often, and they make my life hell when I do." He led the way into the light.

The path continued upward until they came to another side crevasse. From there, both directions looked difficult, littered with piles of ice debris. They stood, bedrolls under their arms, frowning.

"You pick, John."

"That way, at least until we hear a growl."

Aeris led the way, Princess Guard at the ready. The going was narrow, twisty, and above all, obnoxious. John boosted Aeris over the worst obstacles, and she in turn pulled him up. They did make progress; the surface was now less than ten meters above them. In the morning light and calm wind, it looked like Aeris' Promised Land to John.

Right before the growl, that is. And after the growl came a scream.

John and Aeris hurried around a corner to find three glacier wolves snapping at a pair of legs dangling over the cliff's edge.

"That's not something you see every day," John said.

Aeris stepped forward, staff in hand.

"Wait. Maybe I can distract them with this Little Bo-Peep."

The red glow enveloped him. He saw Aeris dive for cover; apparently she knew him well. A little girl in a blue bonnet appeared, picking daisies in a circle of meadow (darned surreal in the ice, to say the least). She smiled and picked up a gnarled staff, beckoning to something beyond her.

"Shepherd's Call."

The ice opened up to reveal a sheep the size of an elephant.

"BAAAAAAAH!"

It charged, flattening the three wolves and slamming into the far wall, knocking a hailstorm of debris loose from above. Amidst the larger chunks was Tifa, who bounced twice off the sheep's back before sprawling like a wet dish cloth at their feet.

"I've heard of it raining cats and dogs, but this is new to me," John said.

Aeris rushed up to her fallen friend and knelt, bowing her head.

"Wait." John put his hand on her shoulder. He sat and cradled Tifa's head on his lap. "Allow me. We may have a long walk ahead, and you don't want to exhaust yourself."

He moved bundles of Tifa's hair aside; she had so much he almost needed a pitchfork. He picked up Aeris' Princess Guard. He bowed his head and released the staff. It danced a jig in front of them as John touched his forehead to the ice. He sat up and felt the energy surge into all three of them.

"Wow," John said. "Wow."

"How do you do that?" Aeris said. "Absorb and store other people's abilities?"

"A talent. Works with monsters too. I'm keeping your Great Gospel for a sunny day."

"Well, next time you do a Pulse of Life, you don't actually need to touch your forehead on the ground." She swatted the top of his head. "Silly."

Tifa moaned and opened her eyes. They didn't seem to focus.

"I had the strangest dream." Her voice was slurred, far away. "I fell into an ice crevasse and landed on a giant sheep."

"Really? I had the same dream."

"John? What are you doing here?"

"Call me your guardian angel."

Her eyes sharpened, focusing on him. "Why are you in your pajamas?"

John tucked his coat closed. "It's the new Avalanche uniform. Didn't Spike tell you?"

Tifa rolled her eyes. "I should have known you were behind all the weird events today." Tifa turned her head. John felt her jerk when she saw Aeris.

"Holy - "

"Right the first time," John said.

"I'm dead. That's it, right?"

"No. The giant sheep cushioned your fall."

"But - then how - how can - " Tifa sat up. She took Aeris' hands, felt her forearms, reached up to touch her face. "Is it you? Are you real?"

"Yes. It's good to see you again, Tifa."

"But how? I saw you, after Sephiroth. You, uh - " Tifa choked up, tears glistening in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Aeris said. "It was shocking for me to see too."

Tifa looked up, now confused. Aeris turned to John.

"Perhaps you should explain."

* * *

"You summoned yourself?" Tifa looked as if she had just taken a bite of the moon and found it was cheese after all.

"She couldn't have done it without my meddling," John said. "There I was, treading water, talking with her dead mother - "

"I thought I saw you. Then that flash, then Aeris kneeling there, that sword poking out her front, oh God!" Tifa shuddered.

"How did you fall in the crevasse?" John asked.

"It doesn't seem so weird now. Cloud has always had his, moments, but when he swore he saw a flying wolf wearing Aeris' dress we thought we had lost him for good. Then Cid nearly got cold cocked by a bag of rice.

"I'm sorry," Aeris said, holding herself and laughing. "Is he okay?"

"Yes. Then other stuff started falling. Chunks of ice, something metal. We all dove for cover. I unfortunately dove too far."

Aeris walked over to the bedrolls and scooped them up. "I'm glad you're okay now."

"Yes," John said. "Imagine. Flying assault rice. Someone desperate for Wutai take-out."

"Did someone mention Wutai?"

In a flash, Yuffie appeared on a small ledge and dropped, landing squarely in front of them.

"Hi Tifa. Hi John. Figured you'd be behind this. Thought old spiky Dorkus had lost it when he started seeing flying pink pigs but then I almost got brained by a nasty smelling cooking pot. What were you cooking in it, anyway? Some gross bug stir-fry?"

"I, wouldn't suggest you cook anything in it now."

Yuffie turned at a sound behind her.

"Holy jumping Da-Chao in Wutai!"

"I see you've met my traveling companion."

"But, you're dead! I mean, you're not dead! What's going on! Who are you?"

"Don't worry Yuffie. It really is me."

"For all practical purposes," John said.

All three of them looked at him.

"Tell you what. Can you get us out of this crevasse? Then I can tell the tale to your whole group. Or we can wait for them to drop in one at a time."

"But," Yuffie looked at Aeris. "Are you a ghost? Are you a clone? A long lost twin sister? How is this happening? I saw you die right in front of me. So did Tifa."

John sighed. "Okay, here goes." He told the story again. The planning, the talks with Ifalna, the rescue, the aftermath.

"I didn't know you felt so strongly about me," Aeris said. "I felt, like a voyeur, watching you."

"Shows what you know." Yuffie sniffed back a tear. "You were like a big sister to me. Since my mother, you know, you lost yours too, but at least you remember her." Yuffie clasped Aeris in a tearful hug. "Don't you go and die on me again. Promise."

Tifa and John looked on in silence.

"I don't know what to say," Tifa said. "This has been, quite a day."

Yuffie slipped from her embrace to face John. "As for you," Slap!

John found himself sitting on the ice holding his stinging cheek.

"How dare you! Saving her like that and keeping her from us?"

She slapped him again. "Don't you realize what this did to us? We're a group of emotional wrecks!" She dropped to the ground, head in her hands. "I can't believe you tried to raise her dead body as well. You dorkus, what would you do if it had worked? How would the two of them deal with each other?"

"First of all, ow; second of all, Aeris has the personality to get along with herself. So does Tifa. You, on the other hand, would drive yourself crazy."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, we'd better join your companions, before Cloud beats me up for stealing his women."

"Hey. I'm not Cloud's woman." She stared at Tifa. "As if he would notice."

Tifa blushed. "John's right. They'll be worried if we don't get back soon."

"And I can't wait to see their faces when I show them what I found." Yuffie unreeled her rope, attached a grappling hook, and hurled the business end high onto the ice. "I'll go up first to make sure it's attached. Then you all climb. Gawd, I can't believe it's you, Aeris."

The ascent went without mishap. John had been so sure he would fall he had planned to summon the sheep to land on. But, he now stood with the other three, out on the bright ice, shivering.

"Over that way. Those rocks," Yuffie said. "See that cliff? We have to climb it."

"What, now?" John felt as if his legs would melt.

"Gotchya. Tomorrow. There's a cabin over that ridge. Come on. Hey, there's Nanaki. Hey Fuzzball, over here! You're not going to believe this!"


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter XVII**

 **Gaia's Cliff**  
 _"Hey Aeris. No need to be shy. Plenty of rock for everyone." - Cid_

"Your conclusion is not the only possible outcome." Nanaki sat at the head of the low table, his red paws clasped almost as if in prayer. John had to fight the urge to throw him a dog biscuit.

"You mean, we don't have to lose her again?" Cloud's voice was pleading. He sat across from John and Aeris and couldn't pull his eyes from her.

Beside him, Tifa brightened. "Explain, Nanaki."

"Ordinary summoning magic creates a copy of the creature out of magical energy, for a brief period, whether it accomplishes its objective or not. Holy is different. Holy recreated Aeris, flesh and blood, mind and memories, everything. A magical construct would not have to drink hot cider, for instance."

"I hope you're right." Barret's hulking form did not look nearly as menacing after John had seen him envelop Tifa and Aeris in a group bear hug that had knocked out John's wind just to watch.

"So do I." Cid ran his hands over his stubble. "I hadn't known Aeris very long. Didn't know how much I'd miss her until I was driving my spear into that damn Jenova thing. I'd say our chances to deck Sephiroth just tripled. Damn, I need a smoke."

"If you don't cut down," Yuffie said from her seat next to Aeris, "You won't live to see Sephiroth, old man."

"I don't need your damn lip, brat. Somebody get me some tea."

"I'll do it." John hopped up and walked into the next room where the cabin's owner, Holzoff, was pulling a sheet of scones out of the brick oven.

"Cid would like some - wow." John's eyes fixed on the man's green aura, as strong as that of Aeris. John recovered. "Some tea. Hot tea."

"Sure thing. There's a pot right here."

John took the tray. "Are you a - " He lowered his voice. "A Cetra?"

Holzoff looked at him with sad eyes. "Half. My mother . . . I was ill with colic the day of the picnic at Pebble Creek. She stayed home to take care of me. My father, my older brother and sister . . . everyone one else . . . " He choked up. John set down the tray and took his arm.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"My mother never recovered. Wouldn't remarry. Friends say she used to be a strong woman. She tried to raise me well, teach me about her heritage, but I watched her waste away. Died of a broken heart."

John was silent before replying. "You know what annoys me the most? I feel so powerless. I don't even have the luxury of blaming myself."

Holzoff nodded. "After Shinra took Ifalna away, I thought it best to hide. So I live out here, rescuing explorers and those crazy enough to tackle the cliffs. Not a bad life. Keeps me close to the Planet."

"Hey! Where's my damn tea!"

"Hold on!" John slipped off his bracelet and held it out. To Holzoff he said, "You might be interested in this. It was worn by one of your people."

"Where did you get this?"

"Aeris and I went on a . . . vision quest. One of the dead Cetra at the Pebble Creek park gave it to me. A peace offering perhaps."

"Then you should keep it. It is a bracelet of warmth. I have one like it myself, though not in mint condition like yours. It will help your climb up the cliffs. A gift from the Planet always brings good luck."

"In that case, I'd be honored to wear it."

"Hey Jenova!" Barret said. "You drinking Cid's tea?"

John felt mortified but Holzoff smiled. "Don't worry. Aeris told me about you. I was worried I'd never see one of my kind again. And Ifalna's daughter, no less. I'm grateful to you. Here, take these scones too. That will soothe the troops."

John nodded and picked up the trays. "Let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

Returning to the conference room, he placed his load on the table.

"Here you go, great patient Cid. Tea, cream, sugar, scones. If you need help quitting your smoking habit, I can project a vision of someone I knew who was in the last stages of emphysema."

Cid made to retort, but his hacking cough cut him off.

"Don't worry. I won't do it without your permission."

"As I was saying," Vincent said, "what do we do about the Jenova?"

"Excuse me?" John dropped a scone on his plate. "My name is John. Feel free to write me a dear John letter, but please don't call me 'the Jenova.' I don't call you 'the Vampire.'"

Vincent stared at him. John casually met his gaze, until he discovered it was a test of wills. Vincent's blue aura strengthened as the Jenova in him tried to overpower John's mind. John felt his own mind take up the battle. With the mental heat came a thought: John knew he would win. After all, he was a full Jenova, like it or not, and as such was more than a match for this - whatever Vincent was.

John pulled the plug, jerking his gaze away. He spotted Yuffie arguing with Barret and did a double take. "No. Spots in front of my eyes." He blinked several times. There. That's better. He hurried back to his seat.

"I don't know about you," Barret said, "but Jenova or no Jenova, anyone who attacks Shinra troops on sight has my vote."

Cloud said, "He has no combat skills. He might get in our way even if he stays true."

Aeris said, "For having no combat skills, he gets around. And he did save me back at Icicle Inn." She gave him a wry grin.

"Y-yes," Cloud said. "But we are talking about climbing the Gaia cliffs, where we will fight powerful monsters and face Sephiroth."

"You have Cait Sith," John said. "How good a climber is he?"

"He is light," Nanaki said. "We will haul him up with a rope sling. I'm worried they might need to do the same to me."

"You'll be fine." John thought of Fluffy. "As long as you don't have to climb down."

Cloud said, "Still, for your safety, John, I recommend - "

"I'm staying with Aeris." John spoke with the finality of a parent.

Cloud opened his mouth but Vincent spoke up. "Let him come."

"What?" Cloud said. "You?"

"If we try to stop him, he will come anyway. And in that case, he may well turn against us. This way, we can watch him. And I will personally watch out for Aeris."

"Uhm, thanks," John said. "Though I promise I would never turn traitor on you. Why would I, of all people, hurt Aeris?"

Vincent said nothing. Tifa smiled. "It's the closest to a compliment you can get from Vincent. Welcome aboard."

"Now that's settled," Cait said in his bouncy-bouncy voice. "How are we going to tackle the cliffs?"

"We'll go up in teams," Cloud said. "The first will be the best climbers. Tifa, Yuffie and I."

Barret snorted. "We have to depend on Yuffie?"

"Listen blockhead," Yuffie said. "If you think - "

Cloud cleared his throat. "The next group will be Nanaki, Barret and Cait. That way we can pull them up if the going gets too tough."

Yuffie gave Barret a triumphant leer.

"Don't push it, brat," Barret said.

"If I may continue?" Cloud said. "Thank you. The final team will be Aeris, John and Vincent, along with Cid to guard our rear."

"Sounds great," John said. "That way, if I misbehave, Cid can hold me down with his spear while you drop Barret on me."

John saw Cloud fight to hide a smile.

"Looks like we're ready," Tifa said. "Let's get moving while there's still light. I have a date with a long-haired guy named Sephiroth." She clapped her gloved fist into her other hand.

"Hey Spike," Barret said. "You're blushing."

They stood up with a 'Let's get going' urgency. John's mind flashed red.

"Ah, guys? There's . . . something I need to tell you."

Cloud gave him a dark look.

"Nestor Granth. He's been trying to kill Aeris."

Dead silence. Cloud and Barret stared at him with open hostility.

"If it makes you feel better, he wants to kill me too. He thinks I'm a Cetra. I think."

Barret's booming voice broke through the silence.

"Just when were you planning to tell us about this!"

People began to speak all at once. John knew the anger was directed at him, but he did not feel offended. He held up his hand to quiet them. Slowly, he recounted the tale of his first meeting with Nestor in the Shinra tower, the attack on Aeris at Icicle Inn, followed by their wild flight down the slope.

Cid grunted. "Kid, we need to teach you how to drive."

Barret said, "At least you dropped that Mako-guzzler off the nearest cliff."

Cloud sighed. "Anything, else, we need to know, John? Has my mother come back from the dead, perchance?"

John felt a bizarre tingling in his stomach. He ignored it. "Nothing you shouldn't expect. Besides, Nestor isn't the type to go rock climbing. More likely he will meet us on the other side."

"That's a cheery thought," Tifa said.

"We still have a cliff to climb." Cloud was all business now.

John stood up. "It would be a pleasure to serve with you, sir."

"Don't overdo it," Barret said. "You'll end up in one of those blue Shinra uniforms with that attitude."

"I'd rather gargle broken glass." He turned and helped Aeris up. "You sure you're feeling up to this?"

"Don't worry about me. The Planet wants me to stop Sephiroth, remember?"

* * *

The climb was easier than John had expected. It was, of course, cold. But they had many resting places where they could warm up using Fire materia. Holzoff had found some spiked gloves that fit over Nanaki's paws, giving him four clawed hands - the best climber of the lot. Holzoff had also fitted Barret's gun arm with a fired rope and grappling hook. With this, Barret reeled in Cait Sith like a white puffy trout.

The only excitement came when Yuffie kicked a green, multi-tentacled creature off a ledge, and the thing nearly knocked Cid loose. He held on, releasing a string of profanity.

"Watch it, brat!"

Yuffie shouted something back, but the wind snatched away the sound.

"Take it easy," Aeris said. "She didn't mean anything by it."

"Damn kid's careless. I need a smoke."

"Good luck, out here," John said.

"I hate climbin'. I hate the cold. Can barely breathe."

"That's the cigarettes. Give 'em up, and you'll be as spry as Yuffie."

"Bah!" He paused and hacked a string of coughs. Sounded like lung tissue loose in there. John began to worry about him, but he pulled himself up to onto the ledge next to Aeris. John sat beside him."

"Who wants the honor of doing the Fire materia this time?" John said.

"Why not you?" Vincent glided to a stop next to him.

"Because I value my life. Yours too."

"I'll do it," Cid said.

"Good idea. After all, if you can't have a smoke, you might as well have a fire."

Cid grunted, directing his spell toward a loose rock. After it started to glow, he and John removed their gloves and warmed their hands.

"Hey Aeris," Cid said. "No need to be shy. Plenty of rock for everyone."

"Aeris?" John looked at her. She sat, back against the cliff face, unmoving.

"You with us?" Cid said.

John leapt over to her. Her face was ice cold. "Aeris!" He began to shake her, getting no response. "Oh no!"

Vincent caught his arms. "She is breathing. Let's move her closer to the heat." He lifted her as if she weighed no more than Fluffy.

"Hey kid," Cid said. "Don't fade out on us. We just got you back, remember?"

"So . . . tired . . . "

"Hypothermia," John said. "Wind's brutal." He fumbled for a Restore materia. He cast the spell, hosing her down with the green energy. Her color improved, as presumably did Vincent's leg, which also received a dose from the spell.

"Th-thanks. I'm s-sorry."

"Wait!" John slapped his forehead. "Two brain cells just fired in unison." He pulled off his bracelet of warmth. "Holzoff identified this and, duh, you need it, not me."

Aeris slipped it on. "Thanks. I feel much better."

"Brr! It's cold up here, you know?"

"Button up then," Cid said. "We have a long climb still."

"Glad you're feeling better." John looked up the cliff. "Though I don't know how we'll get you up the mountain. Maybe Barret can use his sling."

"No need." Vincent picked her up, cuddling her like a baby under his cape. "I shall carry her."

"How are you going to climb?"

In response, Vincent rose off the ground and began to drift upward at a slow walking pace.

"Well, damn." Cid shook his head. "Maybe I should pass out and get a ride too."

"Forget it," John said. "You aren't cute enough."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter XVIII**

 **Over the Top**  
 _"Come on guys. You're missing the fun!" - Cait Sith_

Yuffie announced the summit with a Wutai war whoop. Vincent floated past with Aeris, riding those mystical vampire thermals.

"Doesn't he ever have to rest?" Cid hawked and spat, the spittle crackling and turning to ice as it tinkled down the mountain.

"Check out the view from here. I'm sick of climbing, though. Everything you said about it? You were right. It sucks."

"Look at that! That's my darling!"

Something metal gleamed in the distant sky, coming closer by the second. Cid, obviously forgetting his fatigue, scrambled up the last few meters to where the others stood. John was the last over the crater's rim.

"It's the Highwind! Hey baby!" Cid fumbled out a cigarette, but the wind blew it away. He cursed.

Cloud said, "Let's find some shelter. We need to rest."

Everyone did look tired, Aeris worst of all. She stood where Vincent had placed her, leaning on both Tifa and Barret, barely supporting her weight.

"I don't understand," she said. "My legs. They feel like rubber."

Nanaki spoke up. "Seems the closer you get to the crater, the weaker you feel. Must be something to do with the exposed Lifestream. If you're the embodiment of Holy . . . "

Aeris moaned. "I don't want to be a burden."

"Nonsense," Barret said. "Teef and I will carry you while crawling on our knees if we have to." They each fastened an arm under one of hers. "Ready?"

Tifa nodded. "Don't worry about a thing, kiddo. We have you. We're not letting you die on us this time."

A war party of Cloud, Yuffie and Nanaki took the lead, followed by Aeris and her supporters. Cait Sith bounced along after them, leaving Cid, Vincent and John to bring in the rear.

"It is the Highwind." Cid waved his spear. "Over here! Give us a lift!"

John felt a bolt of danger. "Guys, perhaps we shouldn't attract their attention?"

Vincent disappeared over the ridge after the others.

"Bring my ship over here!"

The Highwind turned to face him.

"Duck!" John screamed. A barrage of missiles was swarming toward them. Cid, spry as a mountain goat when needed, jumped into a rock crevice, leaving John to plummet over the inside edge of the crater just before the missiles slammed into the rock above. He curled into a ball, counting the bruises as he bumped down the slope. Flying rock fragments stung his face and forearms.

When finally he stopped moving, he glimpsed Cait Sith bouncing back up the slope. John rolled onto his elbows, and heard Cid bark the word "Shinra" amidst a string of expletives, some of which John had never heard.

Nanaki bounded up the slope after Cait. Tifa, Barret and Aeris crawled to their knees from where the blast had slammed them flat.

"Look out!" Cloud said from somewhere out of sight. "They're coming for another pass!"

Cid howled another string of profanity but kept his head down. Tifa hoisted Aeris to her feet and hid her in a rock crevice. John stood, if shakily, feeling the weight of his materia armlet.

Barret opened up with his gun arm, a bit like attacking a tank with a fly swatter, but John supposed it made him feel better. No sign of Vincent or Yuffie. No matter.

John raised his arms. "Comet!"

Red fireballs screeched from the sky. Whoever was at the Highwind's helm dodged the worst of it, not that John was very accurate in the first place. Most of the flaming rocks went wide, over the edge of cliff, thundering onto the glacier beyond, but one small fireball caught the Highwind on the nose. The airship shuddered out a trail of sparks.

Cid bellowed, as if in pain. "My baby! My baby! What did you do to my baby?"

"And I'd do it again," John said to no one.

"Hey, there's Sephiroth!" Yuffie pointed down the path, which became a twisting ridge disappearing into the fog. Sure enough, a black caped figure stumbled along, swaying dangerously at the turns. The fog began to lift, exposing another robed figure. And another. And a fourth. Where had all those come from? John distinctly did not recall seeing any of them climbing the cliff.

Tifa stood and ran to Cloud. John limped down to Yuffie and Aeris.

"You guys going after Sephiroth?" he asked. "What about that?"

The Highwind above them sputtered to a hovering halt, its rotary blades beating at the air above. As John watched, dozens of parachutes appeared, each dangling a blue Shinra soldier.

Vincent floated down to him, vampire style.

"Hide Aeris," John said. "I'll help the others hold them off." That ought to be good for laughs, he thought. No one argued, so John took off running.

Barret was firing at random. "Shinra? Cool! Let me at 'em!"

"No!" Cloud said. "To Sephiroth!"

He, Barret and Tifa were the only ones outside the falling ring of blue. Yuffie made to follow but found herself cut off by landing blue suits. Cid crawled down from above, waving his spear and shouting insults. Cait and Nanaki waited nearby. A rope ladder dropped from the Highwind and a lone figure calmly descended, as if the ensuing battle was a mere nuisance in his corporate life. John expected to see Heidegger, or perhaps even President Rufus, and was shocked to realize the VIP was Nestor Granth.

"Who the hell are you?" Cid said. A nearby guard jabbed him in the ribs with a gun. Cid shoved him away with the butt of his spear.

"Who are you?" Nestor's imperious voice said. John noticed he wore a harness with a taught rope reaching up to the Highwind.

"I'm Cid Highwind, captain of that airship you Shinra creeps stole."

"If you're a captain, why hang out with these, heh, ruffians?"

Yuffie said, "Because we're trying to stop Sephiroth from destroying the world."

Nestor laughed.

One of the soldiers made a grab for Yuffie's breast, receiving an elbow to his stomach for his efforts.

Nanaki growled.

Nestor said, "Let's end this circus. I've come for the Ancient."

"You haven't heard?" Cid said. "She's dead. Sephiroth killed her."

"Nonsense. I saw her in Icicle Inn, with this twerp." He pointed at John.

"I saw her die in the Forgotten City. Hard to miss. Only thing left was one of those damn Jenova creatures. I spiked it on my spear, just as I'll do to your worthless - "

"Tut-tut," Nestor said. "Let's be professional here. There will be time for insults later, when I order your deaths."

"Grrr!" Yuffie went for her shuriken, only to have a soldier knock it loose and put her in a hammer lock. Undaunted, she jerked forward, flipping him onto his back. She made to stomp his face but stopped when she saw three guns pointing at her.

"Wise decision." Nestor smiled. "Let's cut to the point. I know the girl Aeris is here because I can sense her."

"You sense me." John stepped forward. The soldiers parted, perhaps subconsciously. "Why are you and Hojo so interested in her, anyway?"

"That pathetic quack did get one thing right. He convinced me you are not an Ancient."

"You know? Grow your hair out. Leave it unwashed for a month, and you'll pass for Hojo's twin."

"Where is the girl?"

John rubbed his stomach. "I devoured her essence. That is why you sense her. You see, I am a Jenova. Better looking than that headless leper Sephiroth stole, too. But you know that, because you - "

John strained to pick up the blue aura he knew had to be there. But no. Strain as he might, no blue. Then he saw something else: flickering red, with sparks of black. What the heck?

"Because you're a grown man and should know better," he finished.

"I grow weary of this prattle. If he makes another sound," Nestor gazed around at the throng of soldiers, "Kill the red pooch."

Nanaki growled again.

With a confidence he did not feel, John placed his hand on his red materia. He stood right in front of his adversary, smiling, wishing he had Vincent's teeth. Nestor's neck looked tough, but inviting.

"Nestor?" John said sweetly. "Want to see what I did with her Cetra essence?"

"You don't catch on, do you? Guards! Kill the - "

"Shepherd's Call."

The blue bonnet girl reappeared, picking more daisies. Nestor laughed.

"That's the most ridiculous - "

"BAAAAAAAH!"

The attack was so sudden even John had to dive for cover. Cid gaped in amazement as the elephant sized sheep rammed through a knot soldiers as if they were blue bowling pins. Nestor was knocked wide with a glancing blow, but before anyone could go after him, he gave his rope a quick jerk and flew upward like a reverse bungee jumper.

"Come back, you sick bastard!" Cid said.

"What a cool summon," Yuffie said, snatching her shuriken and dispatching Gus the Groper who had made another grab for her chest. "Stupid, but cool."

The sheep's wake had created a mini-avalanche, dozens of suitcase sized boulders chasing John down the inside of the crater. He scrambled to the side, somehow avoiding the onslaught. Setting his jaw, he scrambled back up to the path, where the battle raged.

Nanaki let loose a howl and leaped high in the air. John could envision him silhouetted against the moon, until he snarled into two soldiers, a whirl of gashing claws and teeth.

Yuffie fought as Fluffy would, were she human; kicking the nearest soldier in his crotch, she caught her returning shuriken with a free hand, slamming it again at Gus the Groper who hadn't had the sense to stay down. Above her, Cid jabbed and parried with his spear. Then Cait waded in, wobbling and punching with wild abandon.

Meanwhile, a trooper blindsided John with what felt like a lead baseball bat. His left arm felt numb below the shoulder, but when he tried to move it, blinding pain knocked him to the ground - luckily, because Bruce Lee's next blow was aimed at his head. John swore he could feel jagged ends of bone grinding away inside him.

Yuffie ran over to help. Turning to meet her charge, the trooper batted her shuriken aside like a Frisbee, delivering a punishing kick to her stomach. Eyes wide, she flew backward, though her skill at materia allowed her to cast a Cure spell at John even as she tumbled end over end to land in a painful heap. The soldier chuckled, slowly but gleefully advancing.

"Little girls shouldn't be out on a day like this."

John felt his frustration peak. One glance at his armlet told him his materia was useless. Little Bo-Peep was dark, and Comet - no, that would not do. In desperation, and fury, he smacked the ground with both fists, willing the Planet to send something his way. To his surprise, the response came as energy crackled through him and shot out to his companions.

Zap Armor.

He and his friends found themselves inside flashes of golden sheen, accented by the clang of metal.

Bruce Lee wobbled with the distraction, allowing Yuffie to squirt partially free. He changed his stomp into a kick, but his foot bounced off her side as if she were a steel armadillo.

"Ha!" said Yuffie, taking the blow with barely a nudge. She bounced to her feet, screamed a Wutai battle cry, raining a hurricane of blows, denting his helmet and nearly shoving the guy's breastplate up his nose. He dropped and, perhaps heeding the lesson of Gus the Groper, stayed dropped.

John hurried away from the battle, back down to where Vincent lay over Aeris like a red and black quilt.

"How is she doing?"

"Not well," Vincent said. "I fear, unless we can get her to a doctor, she may slip into a coma."

Aeris poked her head out. "I'm not so far gone I can't give Sephiroth a good sucker punch. We have to catch him before he uses the black materia, right?"

"If you feel up to it," John said.

"Of course I feel up to it." She crawled out, tried to stand, but flopped to hands and knees. "It's walking I find difficult."

Without a word, Vincent stood and scooped her, wrapping his cloak around her shivering body. Above them, judging from the sound, the battle was nearing conclusion.

"I saw your new limit technique. Impressive, Jenova."

"Thanks. I think."

Vincent tucked Aeris closer to himself and began to run down the winding path.

"Hey!" Yuffie kicked a Shinra helmet down the slope. John hoped there was no head inside. "I'm ready to go kick some Sephiroth butt."

"Yea." Cid panted to a halt and coughed. "Enough of those pansy Shinra bastards. Hey! Back here with my _Highwind!_ "

The elongated airship rotated above them, then started toward the center of the crater. Cid swore.

John said, "Let me try something." He clenched his fist and stared at the ship, wondering if the thoughts he was projecting actually reached their target, vague as it was. "I don't think it worked." He slumped.

"What did you do?" Yuffie asked.

"Tried to project an image of the Captain here telling them to surrender. Even used his colorful language to make it believable."

Cid laughed. "If the guy I think is piloting that thing, I'll bet you made him wet his pants."

"With my luck, I tried talking to the mice under the tail fins. Sorry I'm not much of a Jenova for you."

"I like you better than that one down there. Damn."

The mist cleared enough to reveal three tiny figures fighting a hulking but familiar form. After a dozen quick slashes of Cloud's sword, it lurched and collapsed.

"Glad I'm not that one too. What this time, a leg perhaps?"

Cait Sith bounced by. "Come on guys. You're missing the fun!"

"Damn cat in a clown's suit." Cid coughed.

Nanaki raced by.

"We'd better move." Cid pointed at the _Highwind_. "Hey, you made it stop."

"It's over the crater. But I'll take credit for the sun going down, too. We had better go."

Along the path they ran. Yuffie and Cid dispatched the few monsters unwise enough to cross their path. While John could tell the pair did not like each other, in combat they shined like a father-daughter team. John smiled, then coughed as he waved away the celebratory cigarette smoke.

They continued. After several twists the main path dead ended, though a treacherous route still led downward. The _Highwind_ thrummed almost directly above them. A rope ladder hung from the lower deck, as well as a twitching tether line. Nestor.

Tifa popped her head up from below the ridge. "We have to hurry," she said. "Barret got all glassy-eyed and I'm afraid he'll do something stupid."

"Our Barret?" Yuffie said. "Do something stupid?"

"Cloud gave him the black materia to keep safe. He was here with me, but then he spaced out and said Cloud was in trouble."

"Not again," Yuffie said. "If dorkus gives the black materia to Sephiroth again, after all this - "

"We have to hurry!"

"Yuffie," John said, "think you can cut that tether line with your shuriken?"

"Yes," Cid said. "You hold that Nestor creep for us and I promise to say something nice about you."

"You do know the way to a girl's heart." She readied her weapon. She was about to throw it when she grinned. "I have a better idea." She launched herself out into space, barely snagging the rope, spinning around with a shriek.

"You! Stupid! Brat!" Cid was so flustered he flung his half smoked cigarette aside."What, what was she thinking? What is that little brat doing?"

"Sorry," John said. "My influence. Makes her crazy. We'd better get down there."


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter XIX**

 **Show Time**  
 _"Didn't I kill you already?" - Sephiroth_

They arrived in the crystalline crater just as Barret handed a small object to a twitching Cloud. Barret bore an 'okay, if you say so' look on his rugged face. John personally did not like to entrust valuable objects to someone who spasmed every other step.

On one side of Cloud stood Cait Sith and Nanaki. Across from them stood a gaggle of blue Shinra; amidst them Heidegger stood next to Scarlet, her rotten-egg aura of evil practically glowing. And behind her . . .

"Hojo!" Vincent leapt amidst the group, red eyes ablaze.

"Ah, the wayward Turk. Hee-hee, woke up from your self-imposed slumber, no?"

"You will pay." Vincent's voice was a low rumble. "For Lucrecia."

"The vessel? You had feelings for her? Hee-hee. Don't pretend you have feelings now."

"Why are you here?"

"Why, to observe my experiment, of course. The Jenova reunion."

"Reunion?"

"Can you feel it, ex-Turk? Can you feel the pull? The Jenova within you crying out?" He turned to Cloud. "How about you, my failed experiment?"

Cloud looked at Hojo with a moan. Hojo doubled over in laughter for several seconds.

"How does it feel?" Hojo said through teary eyes, "to find out you are nothing but a failed lab experiment? That you are merely a clone of the great Sephiroth, and a defective one at that?"

"I'd say it would suck," John said, stepping forward, "But it hardly matters. When I found out I was a failed clone of an evil megalomaniac, I saw my life for the joke it was." He walked over to Cloud. "But in your case, it's not even true."

"I . . . I need a number."

"Seven."

"I . . . what?"

"I gave you a number. Now hand me that black materia."

"I need . . . a number."

"What's wrong with seven?"

"He doesn't have a number." Hojo danced a jig. "Failures don't get a number."

"Then he gets to make up his own number. How about pi? Ah, Spike, where are you going?"

"I'm . . . sorry."

"Don't listen to the greasy lunatic, number seven."

"I apologize, to everyone." Cloud was apparently off in the - well - clouds. "Especially you, Tifa. I've hurt you, and you only tried to help."

"Cloud, please." Tifa sounded near tears.

"Touching," said Scarlet. "The brain-dead loser and his slut."

"Shut up, Scarlet!" Barret, John figured, judging from the emotions pouring off Tifa, probably saved Scarlet's life.

"We don't let trash like you in the Promised Land," Scarlet said.

Barret leveled his gun arm and glared.

John looked up and around their crater. Plant-like crystals extended their glittering fingers toward the sky. Deep within their forms, a cool green light pulsed a slow rhythm.

"It's beautiful," said a voice behind him.

"The Ancient!" Hojo looked like a young boy digging into his Christmas stocking.

"Her name is Aeris," Yuffie said. "Learn it."

"The Ancients have returned to lead us to the Promised Land. Their spirits will rise around us and herald the building of New Midgar."

"How many were killed to build old Midgar?" John said, remembering Pebble Creek.

"I'll take that Ancient." Nestor strode into the clearing. Surprisingly, his tether was still taut. John looked at Yuffie, but she only smirked.

"Hee-hee, of course. Now that the Promised Land has been delivered, you can have as many Ancients as you want."

"Sounds like Heaven," John said. "The Promised Land. Overflowing with mako energy, Ancients and shareholder value."

"No Shinra bastard will ever set foot in the Promised Land!" Barret swung his gun arm between Scarlet and Nestor.

"I have orders from Rufus," Nestor said. "You are to hand over the Ancient to me, for scientific research - "

"Science! Science!" Hojo convulsed in giggles.

"As for the rest of this rabble? Kill them."

Scarlet stepped forward. "It would be my pleasure to give that order, sir."

"Who's running Shinra, anyway?" Yuffie said. "This skinny geek here?"

"Soldiers?" Scarlet said. "Ready?"

"Ready to die?" Barret yelled back. Avalanche members assumed battle stances.

"Aim - "

Reeve stepped from behind a growth of crystal.

"Excuse me, but I was just talking with Rufus and he - "

"Cloud!" Cid said. "What are you doing up there, you spiky haired freak?"

Everyone looked up, except Aeris, who bowed her head.

Cloud stood braced on an outstretched crystal limb, holding out something in his open palm. In front of him . . .

"Sephiroth," Tifa said. "Cloud, no!"

"What are you doing, dorkus?" Yuffie aimed her shuriken.

"Oh man!" Barret stomped his feet. "And just when we were about to wallop some Shinra butt."

"Barret?" Scarlet said, hand raised. "I need to ask you. Do you want to hear what your lovely wife said to me right before I put thirty bullets into her dancing corpse?"

There was a second of shocked silence. Nestor yanked on his cord. He frowned. Yuffie smirked. Up above, John noted, that rope looped several times around a jutting rock. Aeris whispered something, lifting her arms. Gold stars swirled from her fingertips, flowing around her friends, leaving them bathed in a soft yellow glow. Nestor hauled on his rope again, looking more frustrated.

Barret threw back his head and howled.

 _"You bitch!"_

"Right the first time," John said. Then the crater erupted in thunderous gunfire.

Aeris grabbed John's hand and tugged, pointing upward. John nodded. Pulling her arm, he practically dragged her up into the tangled crystal. Bullets pinged and whistled around them like a swarm of wasps.

"This is nuts!" John vainly tried to shield Aeris

as the shots blew off tiny chunks of crystal all around them.

"Hurry." She forced the words out with her short breath. "My Planet Protector will not last much longer."

"Oh, so that's why we're not full of holes? And I thought it was my sweet charm. There's Cloud. Oh no."

Cloud's outstretched fingers touched a surface that appeared to be glass, yet rippled like the surface of a clear pond. Beyond it, another hand reached forward to take the proffered object.

Aeris shrieked and leapt upward, snagging Cloud's leg. The move threw off his balance, making him jerk back his hand. John scrambled up and, knowing he was nowhere a match for Cloud's strength, lunged at the hand and bit it.

Cloud's sword, like half a propeller, swung around and cut at John's waist. John would have become a twin of Bugenhagen had the Planet Protector worn off a tad sooner. Even so, he barely remained conscious as he bounced off the nearby crystal branches.

John looked up to see that sword raised overhead. He raised his hand in protest, just in time to see the last of his yellow protective field fade.

"Oh-oh."

Cloud had stretched to his tiptoes for the final blow when Aeris, still dangling from his leg, rammed the Princess Guard straight up between his legs.

Cloud's eyes rolled back; John felt pity at the guy's spike of pain. The sword arm drooped, and from his other hand a golf ball sized orb slipped loose and clinked off the crystal with a musical note. A high F, John mused.

John lunged for the marble. He felt its cool power as it caromed off his fingertips. Never was good at pool, he thought. He grabbed for it again, shouting something Cid-like when it bounced off the back of his hand.

Aeris released Cloud, and would have snagged the materia herself had John not blundered into her side. He scrabbled for the cool black stone as it bounced teasingly down the crystal jungle gym. Meanwhile, the whole structure began to shudder. John glanced up to find two arms already emerged from their glass prison.

"Sephiroth," Aeris said. "He's coming through."

John kicked at the materia in disgust, actually connecting and sending it flying into parts unknown.

"Just great." He closed his eyes and released his copy of Aeris' Planet Protector.

The world exploded in a waterfall of shattered crystal. Through the raining kaleidoscope, John spotted the pink streak of Aeris and the glowing spike of Cloud's hair. John and Aeris landed amidst a jagged heap of crystal, which hurt like hell even with the protective ability.

Two feet the size of Volkswagens crashed into the pile of scrap. John and Aeris looked up, and up, and up.

Aeris stared, mouth agape. "I never expected him to be . . . so big . . . "

"Stop acting like a porn star and help us save the planet." Cid batted away pieces of crystal with the haft of his spear.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha." Sephiroth's booming voice echoed like a half court announcer. "I have returned. Mother and I have come to reclaim the Planet."

John said, "Aren't you carrying this Freudian thing too far? Most guys content themselves to driving fancy cars."

"You again? You are not my Jenova."

"No, I'm my own Jenova. As for your mother - "

"Her name is Lucrecia," Vincent said, floating above the ground for effect. "And this is Hojo, the man who raped her."

"No, no!" Hojo bunny-hopped around Sephiroth's feet. His lab coat, strangely, showed no signs of the recent battle. "She came to me willingly. She believed in me, in the Jenova project. And just look at you, my son. My, how you've grown. And the reunion is such a success. Look at the failure dangling from your ear."

"Cloud?" Tifa picked herself up from the rubble. "What are you doing up there?"

"The future is now!" Sephiroth lifted his sword up to the sky. John had to blink several times to make sure it wasn't a jet wing he was carrying around. "In the name of the mother, the son and the - "

"Wait!" John stepped back, kicking a dead Shinra soldier out of the way. Heidegger, he saw, lay curled in a ball, quivering behind a rock. Scarlet, on the other hand, lay stretched out in a bloody mess, eyes unseeing. The only part of her body still presentable was her curled talon of a left hand. John could not recall seeing anyone who looked so dead.

Sephiroth's head tilted forward, causing Cloud's feet to scissor in the air.

"Yes?"

"Who does your hair?"

"My hair?"

"Yea. Tifa here, she gets in a few battles and her hair is so snarled she could walk around with a dead rat in it and not notice. But you? Your hair is so silky, so shiny. I just wondered what you use on it."

"I have absorbed the very Lifestream of the Planet, bathed in the knowledge and wisdom of the Ancients."

"Swimming in the Lifestream? That's like throwing a dead pigeon in a water tank. I'll bet you whizzed in it as well."

"Why, you - "

"Did the kids in school pick on you for having long hair? Is that why you turned out so bad? Or were you driven insane from all those split ends?"

"Die!"

He swung his sword down, but it caught halfway with a metallic screech. A coral reef of crystal dislodged from the far wall and shattered on the ground. Sephiroth twisted his sword, this way and that, but still it remained, stuck fast.

"All right," Cid said. "We've been chasing Sephiroth. So let's smoke this bastard!"

He flew into a frenzy, bringing his spear down on the nearest foot. After several lunges, barely a mark could be seen.

"What the hell's this thing made of?"

"Good job tenderizing his sneaker," John said. "There was an old lady, who lived in a shoe . . . "

Barret opened up with his gun arm, spraying bullets up Sephiroth's legs. Yuffie's shuriken clanged harmlessly off a knobby knee.

"Ah-ha-ha-ha! I have absorbed the protective energy of the Planet itself! Your puny souls I will crush into jelly as Mother and I begin our crusade of fire!"

"Talks a lot, doesn't he?" John scrambled onto Sephiroth's shoe. The robe above creaked like a giant corset as Sephiroth still worried at his sword. Curtains of dust fell all around.

"Yuffie, Tifa, Cid. Know any good knots? Help me."

"What the hell are you doing?" Cid said.

"Tying his shoes together. It always works on me." John flung down coils of shoestring as thick as bridge cables. "Let's see how he moves with his gunboats anchored together."

Yuffie launched herself onto the neighboring shoe while Tifa and Cid hauled John's line toward her. They were ready to start tying when Sephiroth lifted his foot.

"Run!" John clung to a lace, preparing to rappel. The foot came down on Scarlet's body. Her good hand, with its crimson painted nails, was all that stuck out from underneath.

"Mother!" Sephiroth said. "Mother, you come!"

The ground cracked, revealing a radioactive green liquid below. Out of the crack reached two squid-like tentacles, followed by what looked like a giant, spongy glob of pus.

John jumped free, scampering through shards of crystal.

"I see the family resemblance," he said.

Hojo walked up, still wearing that pristine lab coat. "Jenova Synthesis. Can you feel the attraction? The reunion is at hand."

"Attraction? You want to go out with that thing?"

Sephiroth shuffled his feet again. Everyone but Hojo jumped back. Yuffie, Barret and Nanaki closed to fight the Jenova thing. John ran over to Tifa. Aeris stood nearby, leaning heavily on her staff. She looked winded, but still mobile. John gave her a thumbs up.

Cid whistled to Cait Sith. "Come here a moment, bouncy cat." The two unlikely allies huddled.

John said to Tifa, "I could hit Sephiroth with this Comet materia, if your boyfriend would get off his shoulders."

They both looked up.

Cloud clutched several strands of Sephiroth's hair, smashing against the giant's cheek with Sephiroth's every movement. He was so busy hanging on for dear life he was unable to bring his sword to bear.

"Don't you hate it when you get a bee stuck in your hair, Tifa?"

Spells and combat sounds raged by the Jenova blob. Sephiroth raised his foot again.

Cid called out, "Down here, you overgrown steroid freak!"

Cait Sith bounced forward and braced Cid's spear just before the foot came down.

John covered his ears to shut out the scream.

"Damn, that was my favorite spear," Cid said.

Sephiroth lifted his foot again. Underneath was a white wad, much like squashed bubble gum. John watched the whiteness pop into a roundish shape, then detach. It landed like a fried egg without the yolk. It hit the ground with a dinner plate roll, extending a pair of flippers to test the air, finally bulking into an off-kilter snowman shape. Out of the top popped a mashed feline face.

"Remind me," said the flat, tinny voice, "to put turbo rockets in the next model." Cait Sith fell to the side and lay still. "I think . . . I'll just rest . . . "

Sephiroth had his wounded foot upraised, his head lowered, his hand trying to work the object free.

"Someone will need a tetanus shot," John said.

The _Highwind_ , which had been hovering nearby, flew into a low dive and sprayed a line of rockets across the giant's chest. Sephiroth staggered. John could see Cloud swing back onto the giant's shoulder and grasp an earlobe. Did Spike think he was George of the Jungle up there?

"Help me drag this damn cat toy out of here," Cid said. "I'll have to make him a catnip mouse."

"Cloud!" Tifa pointed upward.

Aeris clung panting on her shoulder. "What are you doing?"

Cloud's response was drowned out by three summoned monsters hitting the Jenova creature at once. It retaliated with an explosive green mist, throwing the three attackers onto their backs. Barret leveled his gun and blistered it with a stream of lead. Yuffie grabbed her shuriken and dove in, slashing left and right so hard her weapon flashed purple. She barely missed Nanaki who jumped from side to side slashing with claws and teeth. Yuffie's finishing leap and war whoop split the Jenova in half.

"This is for Aeris, for Tifa, for my hometown, for my mother," Cloud said, though barely audible on the ground. "All you need to do is lend an ear." He plunged his sword, up to his elbow, into Sephiroth's ear. The giant's eyes rolled back and, like a drunken skyscraper, his body began to fall.

"Heads!" Clouds said, leaping to a passing crystal.

The resounding crash never came. Sephiroth's oversized body folded up and inside itself before dropping limp under its blood smeared black cape. The giant Masamune blade turned to glass and shattered into snowflakes. Sephiroth, now human sized, crouched on hands and knees, staring at the cleaved Jenova with the pulsing green pool behind it. He shuffled forward, pushing his normal sized Masamune along the ground.

"Mother?"

"Son?" Hojo lifted his stringy head, batting away a falling Shinra helmet.

Cloud leapt to the ground, clutching his midsection with his free arm.

"Don't let him get to the Lifestream," Aeris said. "Else it will start all over."

Sephiroth lurched to his feet at the sound of her voice. He turned and faced her. His green eyes lacked the primal fury of before, yet still bore no trace of sanity. He smiled.

"Didn't I kill you already?"

Aeris' body began to glow white. Pulling from Tifa's clutches, she advanced, a dainty spring in her step. She smiled back, eyes shining, her warmth filling the crater with a soft light.

"The Planet, has given me, enough strength, to take you with me, but not, to the Promised Land."

John leaped between them. "Oh no you don't, Aeris. Not this time. The Planet can find some other pawn." He held his hand out to her chest. "Or it will have to deal with me first."

"What's this?" Sephiroth said. "A Jenova and a Cetra working together? Touching show of bravado. I can feel the Planet quaking in fear of dealing with . . . John."

"Looks like you did absorb some Ancient wisdom after all," John said. "Stuff's dangerous, you know? Almost killed me."

"It is time," Sephiroth said. "At last. My journey ended. The Promised Land."

"Yes, it is time." Aeris glowed brighter. "The Planet must purge the taint of Jenova for good."

John clasped Aeris on the shoulder. She was getting hot. He turned his head to Sephiroth. "Time out, you two. Perhaps we can make a deal?."

Sephiroth raised his sword. Aeris tried to move toward him but John blocked her.

"Step aside, false Jenova!"

John again moved to block Aeris, who almost slipped past him.

"You, you don't want to try hitting me with that sword," John said.

"And why not?"

Behind Sephiroth came a primal yell. Cloud slashed in with his sword, slicing with lightning force, again, again, again, finally leaping into the air and bringing down the final blow in an explosion of light.

"Because," John said calmly, "Tifa's boyfriend is really pissed at you."

Cloud bent over, leaning on his sword hilt, panting. He still had enough strength to give Sephiroth a final jab.

Aeris sagged against John, the unearthly light dimming. "What? John? He's gone? I can't believe . . . I can't believe it's over."

"It isn't."

All heads turned at the new voice. Nestor Granth walked toward them, holding a glass vial in the air.

"What the hell?" Barret said. "You?"

"This vial contains the Cetra disease. When it breaks, it will drain into the exposed Lifestream, spreading throughout the Planet, seeping into every crack, every corner, finishing the job started two thousand years ago. Every remaining Cetra, or half-breed, will be infected. Unless, of course, they refuse to draw the Planet's energy, but they won't know this. And what is a Cetra without that cursed Healing Wind?"

"Why you - " Barret said.

"Careful, boy." He waved the vial. The green glow from the Lifestream caught its evil glint. "We can do this the easy way. Bring the Ancient girl to me."


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter XX**

 **Doom of Squirrels**  
 _"How do you think you would stand against a real opponent?" - Nanaki_

John was about to retort when Hojo began giggling. His high pitched laugh jabbed a fork of pain through John's teeth.

Barret kicked the scientist aside and strode right into Nestor's face.

"Back off, buckwheat," Nestor said. "I drop this vial, and your precious Cetra friends turn into a tapestry of open sores. They die quite ugly, assuming they don't mutate first."

"Enough!" Aeris looked barely able to stand as she leaned on her staff. Still, her eyes blazed with fury. Sweet little Aeris. Dying will do that to a person.

Barret was undeterred. "We didn't chase down Sephiroth and Shinra to let this upstart weasel threaten you or the Planet."

"I'll go to him," Aeris said.

"No!" Yuffie looked near tears. "Not after all this."

Tifa stepped in front of Aeris. "Won't happen. I let her down the first time, but not now. Not ever again."

She didn't look at Vincent, who was drifting around behind Nestor. Nanaki tensed to spring.

Cid picked up a crystal shard, long and sharp. "It's not the famous Dragoon Lance, but it will do. Guy back in Rocket Town keeps trying to sell me something called a Venus Gospel. I'll have to check it out. I thought it was a porn mag at first."

"We're all going to stop you, Nestor." John looked back towards Cloud, who was crawling forward with a 'hey, what did I miss' look on his face. "Most of us, anyway. Give it up." John focused on the vial. He had to keep it intact. If it didn't break -

"Nestor to _Highwind_." The guy held a black cell phone in one hand and the vial in the other. "Target this area, on my mark. If I fail to report back every two minutes, fire the forward missile batteries. Nestor out."

Cid let loose a string of curses as the _Highwind_ drifted around.

"Now my dear Aeris, if you'll approach and roll up your sleeve for the injection, you can save your pathetic friends."

"You're bluffing," John said, blocking Aeris, though this time she had made no effort to advance.

"Say what?" Nestor raised his brow.

John pointed upward. "You've lost control of the _Highwind_."

"You can't possibly expect these lunkies to believe that.

"I'm a Jenova." John felt a twinge of pride. "I know about these things."

"Why you - " Nestor's eyes flashed fire. A green mist swirled toward them, erupting in a blast that threw the party in all directions. John lay half-stunned, hearing no sounds except the _Highwind's_ thrumming and Hojo's giggling. John wanted to throttle that scientist.

Nestor spoke, "I am Nestor, son of Gregor, who was the greatest Turk who ever lived, only to be butchered by Cetra terrorists. But I, Nestor, have carried on my father's legacy, his mission." He fingered his necklace. "I have claimed the ringleader's holy artifact, Ultima magic."

Again the green mist swirled out. John threw himself over Aeris.

"Oh, how touching," Nestor said as John shook his head to clear the static. "Let's see how you shield her from the Cetra Plague."

He shattered the vial at his feet. "And now, special delivery." The green mist of Ultima magic rose again. The party weathered yet another ear-popping blast. The hum of curative magic echoed in the din.

"Dammit John," Barret said, "We're running out of Cure spells. Can't you use your returning trick?"

"Not against materia spells. On the other hand - "

"There," Nestor said. "The virus will take root in all of you. If you would be so kind as to spread it - "

"Shepherd's Call."

"Oh come on. We're all adults here - "

"BAAAAAAAH!"

The giant sheep rammed Nestor against the crater wall, nearly impaling him on a protruding crystal. Alas, Nestor stood and shot off a quick spell. Yuffie's shuriken bounced off a force barrier, though it did cause him to wobble. Barret opened fire anyway.

"I wouldn't if I were you. You might hurt our guest." Nestor again stood smug behind his Wall spell.

"What the hell you talkin' about?"

"Bring her out."

From the shelter of a wall crevice walked two guards, escorting a young girl who twisted in their grasp and tried to stamp on their toes.

"Marlene!" Barret stood open-mouthed.

"My insurance policy. See? I'm going to walk out of here, and there's nothing you can do about it. Unless you want this sweet little girl to go the way of her mother."

Nestor beamed, a smug grin.

"And now, I must take my leave. Oh, the girl stays with me. I am not immortal. More's the pity. I need someone to carry on with my work."

Barret looked ready to stroke out. Somehow, he held back on releasing his traditional torrent of bullets. He did look ready to tear Nestor apart with his teeth, however.

Hojo interrupted by laughing so hard he started to snort. "I'd hate, I'd hate to be a squirrel right about now."

Nestor said, "Will somebody put that thing out of its misery?"

"Remember? Hee-hee-hee, when you broke into my lab? Remember the samples you stole? Northern Albino Ground Squirrel. That so-called plague you gave them?" He rolled onto his back, kicked his limbs, nearly choking with laughter. Hojo, finding his hidden talent for comedy, braced for the punch line.

"They'll, they'll all go nuts!"

A white streak raced between Marlene's legs, charging straight up Nestor's coat to tear at his neck. Apparently not tolerant of bad puns, nor forgiving of her mistress' murder, Fluffy transformed from shedding chest warmer to demonic Cuisinart.

"You killed all those cute squirrels?" Yuffie raised her shuriken. "The kind my Dad keeps in his sacred orchard?"

"Those are Wutai brown squirrels," Nanaki said. "If the plague doesn't target them, they might survive. In any case, they would only be affected if they are here in the crater with us, or if they use Healing Wind to tap the Lifestream."

"Squirrels?" Nestor said. "Your sample made me create a plague for squirrels?"

"The mark of a true scientist," Hojo clutched his side to slow his giggling," is to make the best of every situation. I gave you what you wanted to get you out of my lab. Now you are Nestor, Bane of Squirrels."

"I say we kill him anyway." Yuffie took up a throwing stance.

"Fools!" Nestor tried to fling Fluffy off his arm. He may have wished he had created a cat plague. The ball of fluff spat and howled, claws slashing in all directions.

Meanwhile, Marlene's guards hauled the girl closer to the pool of Lifestream. John gave her credit for requiring the efforts of two grown men to hold her. Barret was trying to get a clear shot when Reeve darted from nowhere and slammed one guard's legs in a rugby tackle. Marlene, thrown loose, turned on the other guy with a knife hand jab to the groin - about shoulder height for a five-year-old. A head butt followed, knocking the soldier over with such surprise in his eyes.

"You taught her well, Tifa," John said, watching Barret scoop up his adopted daughter.

"So what about squirrel-man?" Cid said. "We bring him in? Or slice him up and put him through a blender, like he deserves?"

"Bring him in where?" Barret said. "The only law is Shinra, or us."

"And he did try to kill Aeris with that plague vial," Tifa said. She glanced at Aeris, who moaned on the ground nearby. "I believe he will try again, if he gets the chance."

"Squirrel man, squirrel man." Hojo erupted in another round of giggles.

"Here's my vote." Barret turned and fired. Unfortunately, his gun merely let out a harsh click-click-click.

Nestor, meanwhile, attempted to batter Fluffy against a stalagmite, but the cat glowed green from the effects of Yuffie's spell.

"What did you cast?" Tifa asked.

"Regen."

Fluffy sprang and tried to rake off Nestor's face.

"Arrgh!" He fumbled in his pocket for something while fending off the beast with his free arm.

Nanaki growled. "How do you think you would stand against a real opponent?" He sprang forward, bouncing off the barrier, but knocking Nestor over. Fluffy went for the throat. Tifa, Cid and a recovering Cloud closed in.

Nestor finally got his hand free. In it was an amulet holding a glowing yellow gem. His grin widened, but that was after Fluffy drew her claws across his cheek.

"Meld."

Yellow light from the amulet's materia swirled about him.

"What the hell is Meld?" Cid said.

The ground around Nestor seemed to ripple. Debris and chunks of dead Jenova began to swirl in. John saw Scarlet's loose hand flap by.

"Don't get caught in it," Cloud said.

The maelstrom around Nestor coalesced - into what? Looked like a four headed hydra, though its exact form kept changing. The party paused before attacking, perhaps to ask themselves if they had ever seen something like this, even after eating some of Vincent's whacky-whacky mushrooms.

"Let's see," Cid said. "One part Nestor, one part squid, one part insane house cat, one part giant manicured hand - am I supposed to take this monster seriously, or die laughing?"

Its response was uninspired. "Die, scum." Followed by another round of Ultima.

"Now I'm pissed." John picked himself off Aeris, where he noted he had been falling a lot lately.

Yuffie shouted a Wutai war cry and threw her shuriken. The creature caught it with one of its many spare tentacles and flung it back. Yuffie shrieked as it cut her side, sending her sprawling in a heap. Always on the alert for blood, Vincent flitted over to her. The green glow of spell casting eased her screams.

"I've had it!" John stood up. The sounds of battle boomed all around the hydra. The Nestor part picked up Sephiroth's sword and began sparring with Cloud. Nanaki was trading blows with an oversized cat head, paws the size of elephant feet raking in and out. Cid was trying to fend off a jungle of bloodsucking tentacles, while Tifa was facing off against a giant hand, the hand of an executive: polished skin, lacquered nails.

John, in one of those rare moments in his life, knew what to do. He smacked the ground with his fists. The familiar gold glow sparkled around him and his companions.

Zap Armor.

"Thanks kid!" Cid threw off coiling tentacles and thrust onward with his crystal spear.

"Kya-ha-ha." The Scarlet hand went jab-jab-jab, scratch, rake, gouge, slap. It encored by trying to pull Tifa's hair. Even armored, Tifa would be sore in the morning. Right now she looked mad as hell. She packed a flurry of punches, a pair of kicks, a couple slams and a body drop onto the scrabbling hand.

"Arrgh! You broke my nail!" Scarlet's voice said.

Tifa gave it a flying hook kick in response. It jabbed. She heel-dropped, roundhouse kicked and spear hand punched right into its palm. It flinched, but delivered fresh jabs.

"Kya-ha-ha."

"In another place, this would be funny," John said, wondering what he could do.

Cid swore and thrust with his spear; Cloud merely hacked away. Neither made progress. Nanaki, meanwhile, had to contend with being battered around like a catnip mouse.

"Blue Lightning," said the Nestor thing. Bolts of blue electricity rained down upon the party.

John picked himself up and smiled. Finally, the creature had made a mistake. "Back-atchya," he said. The return bolts hit each of the four "heads," plus the bulbous body.

"Yea! Way to go!" Barret was directing from a distance, still trying to load his gun. Vincent, meanwhile, braced himself and fired at the central core. Yuffie sat nearby propped against a rock.

"Breath of despair," said the creature in a haunting voice that made Cloud stop and clutch his head. Half a dozen snake heads appeared and breathed an oily smoke. "Die, Cetra scum."

Aeris had pulled herself to a seated position; she activated her ChocoMog summon, which blew most of the smoke away. Still, the combatants were gasping, their movements slowed.

"See, Cid?" John said. "I told you smoking would be the death of you."

Aeris pried herself farther up. She leaned on her staff, steadied herself, and smiled. "G-great, great, gosp - "

She would have fallen had John not caught her. A few fresh smelling raindrops fell, but the effect did not continue.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I just can't."

"It's okay. You gave me an idea. You gave me a Great Gospel back at Icicle Inn, so I can just - "

"I'll do this much for you." She gripped her staff, glowed blue, sending electric sparks around her companions. "Juice you all with a Fury Brand."

John felt his rage peak when she slumped to the ground.

"Eat this!" Cid dove forward with several blitz swings. Nanaki also savaged the hydra thing. Cloud whipped his sword into a killing frenzy while Barret, having finally gotten his gun loaded, unloaded it with a barrage of lead into the hydra core.

The bizarre one was Vincent. He transformed into a freak with a hockey mask and chain saw, ran up and sawed off one of Scarlet's fingernails.

"I'll get you for that!" Scarlet's voice said.

"I think not," John said. "Nestor, this is for Sheila." John touched the ground with his palms before reaching high overhead as if trying to pull down the sky. His rage turned the sky momentarily red. Hellbomb Burst.

Half a dozen fireballs streaked down, detonating square on Nestor's head. Snake heads and tentacles shriveled. The lacquer on Scarlet's nails turned black.

"Wow," said Yuffie. "Better than Beta."

"Fools, you think a little fire can stop me?"

"A little of this, a little of that," Yuffie said. "Here's my Dad's favorite trick. Trine."

The party jumped back as a triangular prism of lightning flashed into the hydra. Fluffy's fur frizzed.

"Heartless Angel," came the Jenova voice, practically inside their heads.

John wasn't sure what hit him; he felt pain so excruciating it felt as if each cell were being pulled apart and dipped in acid. When his vision cleared, he saw everyone else moaning on the ground, while Nestor began releasing the green mist to finish them off. His head was the only functional part of the hydra now, except for a couple of Scarlet's scrabbling knuckles.

John propped himself up, gathering his wits.

"And this is for Aeris." John bowed his head. He released the rain and angels he had held since Icicle Inn.

"No, not again," Nestor whined. "How can it be? That same Cetra curse that killed my father!"

The Ultima spell went off, but nobody cared. The first to reach the Nestor thing was Tifa. She punched him in the chops, kicked him high and low, slammed him twice, hoisted the whole creature over her head and threw him to the ground.

"This is for Aeris too!" Building the energy behind her fist, she punched right through, bursting the disintegrating hydra core and flying out the other side.

"Looks like she read that manual you found for her," Vincent, who had returned to his normal form, said. "Final Heaven. Well named."

Nestor's limp body lay on the ground. Fluffy dragged herself to him, bit him on the ankle, then strutted over to Marlene.

Tifa kicked Nestor in the ribs. He did not move. Yuffie, apparently recovered enough to grab loose materia, pounced on his necklace. John pocketed the loose amulet before she could snag it too.

"Hey. Dibs on materia," she said.

"Take this one. I picked it up on the path while you and Cid were mashing monsters. I was afraid to use it, but I think you'll like it."

"Wow. Neo Bahamut. Cool."

"It's safer with you than with me."

"Can't you give me the other one, too?"

"Not yet. I have a wild idea."

"Aeris." Tifa's voice fell. "Oh no, not again. Poor dear Aeris."


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter XXI**

 **Final Reunion**  
 _"You realize, if you messed up his spell, I'll have to k-k-kill you . . . " - Cloud_

The party gathered around her still form. Yuffie started to sniffle.

"I can't believe this. After all we've been through, she still - "

"Still has a pulse," Vincent said.

"Trust a vampire to notice that at twenty paces," John said.

Vincent glared at him.

John looked away. "Yes, I'm worried about her too."

From the hovering _Highwind_ , a rope ladder uncoiled. Suited men began to descend.

"Now what?" Barret said. "We fight more damn Shinra?"

"Hold your fire!"

It was Reeve, now holding Marlene close to his side but not, to his credit, as a human shield.

"What the - "

"Hello?" The voice came from above. "Captain?"

Cid's head perked up as if he just smelled catnip.

A limber form detached from the ladder and sprung to the ground, Yuffie-style. "Lt. Darian, at your service, sir."

"What's the meaning of this?"

"While you were fighting that, that thing, we took a quick vote among the _Highwind_ crew. The consensus was Heidegger would better serve the company locked in the chocobo stall. Which leaves you, Captain, to take your place on the bridge."

Cid sputtered. The cigarette dangled from his mouth, and fell. "I'm - I'm honored."

"With your permission, sir," Darian said, "I need to feed Heidegger his next ration of greens."

Cid grinned. Darian mounted the ladder.

John looked at the hovering ship. Fingering the charm in his pocket, he gazed at Aeris.

"I have an idea."

Everyone stared at him.

"A little idea. It might work. I'm sure it will work. It has to work."

"What the hell are you babbling about?" Cid said.

"Yuffie, cast Regen on Aeris. I think we can save her."

"Save her?" Barret said. "This one of your Jenova tricks?" Barret wasn't pretty when he was angry.

"Cid, how fast can that _Highwind_ get us to the lost Ancient City?"

"Why, within a couple hours, top speed. Why?"

"Call it a hunch. We need to hurry. And Barret, I can't help what I am, but I assure you, I didn't come all this way with Aeris to watch her die." He shuddered. "Again."

"Save Aeris?" Cloud's mind was a couple tracks behind, perhaps an aftereffect of his Omnislash attack, but at least he was headed the right direction.

"Yes. You ordered us to load her aboard the _Highwind_."

"Then what's everyone waiting for?" He straightened, coming alive.

"Your orders, sir. You said take her to the Ancient Capital."

"Then let's mosey."

"How do we get her up that ladder?" Tifa asked.

Vincent scooped Aeris into his arms and drifted skyward. Tifa raced up the ladder to steady them on their trip.

Meanwhile, Reeve used grappling hooks to direct the retrieval of Cait Sith. The whole party made it aboard the sleek floating airship in a matter of minutes.

The _Highwind_ consisted of three main decks: a lower one partially exposed to the air, a middle one containing cargo bays, and a glassed in upper deck, the bridge. On this upper deck, Avalanche gathered, except for Cait Sith, whom Reeve had carried to a workshop on the middle deck.

Aeris lay on a fluffed bedroll atop a bench, flush against the side of the ship, a bench John presumed was used for sightseeing, perhaps even a romantic tryst, if one ignored all the nearby bridge personnel. The group huddled around her, except Cid who was cursing and barking orders. At last the _Highwind_ began to move.

Tifa leaned down and cast a healing spell. Aeris' color improved, but it was like pouring water through a sieve. Her body didn't want to hold the Cure. "Hold on dear," Tifa said. "It won't be much longer. She looked at John for confirmation.

Nanaki cast his Cure spell. "Getting her away from the crater should help. I think the Planet's wound is draining her."

"How do you heal the embodiment of Holy?" Yuffie cast another Regen. "And what do we do when our spells run out?"

"I believe I've bought us some time." Vincent set down a dusty box filled with bottles. "Heidegger's collection of ethers. Some turboethers as well."

"And a bottle of bourbon," Barret said. "I think I'll keep this one."

"Pass 'em out," Yuffie said, looking green but determined. "I'm about tapped. Another round and I'll start puking my guts - oh grossness, why did I have to - erk - "

Vincent slid a bucket over to her.

"Hey!" Cid said. "Don't you go messing up my new deck."

Cloud leaned in and cast his Cure.

Aeris fluttered her eyes and moaned.

"Aeris!" Cloud looked more alive than any time John remembered. Tifa, beside him, squeezed Aeris' hand and smiled.

"Cloud? Tifa?"

"Aeris, hold on," he said. "I promise. I swear, I won't let you die this time."

Aeris smiled weakly. "Where, where am I?"

"Why, you're on my _Highwind_ ," Cid said. "Best little baby ever to take the skies."

"The _Highwind_." Her head turned toward the window.

"Here." Barret propped her up so she could see the mountains and snow fields slide by below.

"It's lovely."

"We're gonna fix you up real good. Just hang in there." Barret cast a Cure.

"Cloud." Aeris turned to him, a flicker of life in her eyes. "The _Highwind_. Just as you promised."

Her head began to droop so Vincent jumped in with his Cure.

"Cloud, Tifa, in case I don't make it . . ."

"Don't say that!" Yuffie said what was on everyone's lips.

Aeris smiled. "I know, but just in case, I wanted to tell you."

"What?" Tifa said.

"You two make a cute couple."

Tifa blushed. Cloud cleared his throat.

"I've been trying to tell them ever since I met them," John said. "But will they listen? No."

"And you, John." Aeris turned to him. "I want to thank you, for the second chance." She closed her eyes and went limp, the smile fading from her face. John felt powerless. He willed Aeris to live. Brute force seemed to work for Barret.

"Hey Captain," the big guy said, after throwing another Cure, "Can't you make this crate go faster?"

"Maybe I should drive?" John said.

"No!" Aeris instantly reawakened, her face flushed. Then she smiled. "Sorry, John, but I do want to live."

"No offense taken. Just stay alive."

She nodded and fell back asleep.

John felt something big and furry nudge against him. He looked down to see Nanaki. John resisted the urge to scratch the red lion behind its ears.

"Care to indulge me?" the beast said. "What is your plan to save Aeris?"

Everyone turned to him. John pulled out the chain containing Nestor's materia amulet. "I suppose you could call this a plan." And he told them.

* * *

They were down to the last three ethers when the _Highwind_ finally hovered to a stop over the shell house, the house by the lake where Aeris - the other Aeris - had been laid to rest.

During the trip, Cid had directed the _Highwind's_ crew to cobble together a stretcher and a rope winch system, and it was in this contraption Aeris rode to the surface. Avalanche, including a now functional (if misshapen) Cait Sith, scrambled down the rope ladder with her.

Cloud and Barret splashed into the water on the dubious quest to retrieve the other Aeris. Tifa refused to watch. The living Aeris' face was serene, though her breathing was labored. John stayed out of the way, crossing his fingers and praying.

"This is the craziest damn plan I've ever heard of," Cid said. "But I hope to hell it works."

Cloud and Barret returned, holding the other form in pink. Everyone's head was bowed.

"Not a mark on her." Cloud's voice was choked. Yuffie grabbed John and held him, trembling. Nanaki cleared his throat.

"Looks like that amplified Cure spell did preserve her body. Good thinking, John."

"Sometimes luck has its place." John reached out and smoothed the wet Aeris' hair. He picked out a flopping minnow and tossed it back into the water. "I believe we should do this on the altar where she was praying. It's where the separation occurred."

"Let's mosey then." Cloud, dead Aeris in arms, marched toward the shell house with purpose. Cid and Tifa hurried after him, carrying the stretcher. Everyone else followed.

Soon the group huddled around the two Cetra twins, who lay side by side staring up through the broken clear ceiling. The glow from beyond gave the twins an angelic aura.

"I wish we could cover that hole," Tifa said. "I can still see Sephiroth - "

"Try to relax," Nanaki said. "Sephiroth is dead. He won't ever come back."

Still, she shuddered. She walked over to the living Aeris and knelt by her side.

"T-Tifa?"

"Yes dear?"

"I was th-thinking. Our clothes. Will they interfere with - " She coughed, trying again to speak. Tifa held up her hand to silence her, and looked at John.

"She's right, I think," he said. "She may be a manifestation of Holy, but these clothes are not. Now the worst that may happen could be the creation of three-legged underwear, but - "

Cid swore. Others looked embarrassed.

Cloud took command. "No time for modesty. Tifa? Yuffie?" He snapped his fingers. The two sprung into action. John tried his best to look just at Aeris' face. She smiled weakly at him; he could tell she was laughing inside. John shook his head and rubbed his temples.

When the two were done, Vincent lay his cape over the twins.

"I don't think I've seen you without that on," John said. "Don't you feel naked without it?"

Vincent gave him a look. John checked his materia. He placed the yellow one next to the blue Magic Turbo. He considered, and popped out the Comet and slipped it into his pocket.

"Anything else you need?" Cloud asked.

"Wish me luck?"

"I can do better than that." He picked out a pink materia orb and handed it to John. "Luck Plus materia. If nothing else, it will improve your poker game."

John inserted the materia into his armlet. "Couldn't hurt. Turboether, anyone?"

Someone pressed a dusty bottle into his hand. Popping the cork, he took a deep swig. He choked as liquid fire burned its way through his insides.

"B-Barret, this, this is not, ack - "

"Sorry. Sorry man." Barret had the sense to look contrite. John shook his head and sputtered, hand pressed to his chest.

"That. Was. Awful."

"Here man." Barret handed him another, smaller bottle.

John looked at it carefully. Pulled off the lid and smelled it. Glancing down, he saw the cape twitching. Aeris was laughing. And her laughter was contagious; one by one the others picked up and began to snicker.

"You realize," Cloud said, unable to keep a straight face, "If you messed up John's spell, I'll have to k-k-kill you . . . " He bent over and held his stomach.

"Right." John drained the new bottle. "Disgusting. Why can't they make these in grape?"

Unable to delay any longer, he pressed his fingers to his materia, bowed his head, fixed his gaze on Aeris' face, and began to hum. He swayed a bit, until strong hands steadied him. Tifa. He could smell her herbal shampoo.

Everyone grew solemn. Straining as if giving birth to a boulder, John concentrated on Aeris, a living, breathing, laughing, dancing Aeris. Finally, it seemed hours later, he felt his materia warm and vibrate. A yellow glow, suffused with streaks of blue, billowed in swirls around him.

"Meld."

The glow flowed over the two bodies before him. Brighter and brighter, sparks of blue amidst the sea of yellow stung his eyes. Tifa held fast, her grip reassuring in its strength, as he dug deep to find energy reserves he never knew existed. A scream burst unbidden from his lips. Beyond them, from the waters around the gazebo, a white wind swirled in, burning his eyes like an acid fog. The burning light flamed against his skin, burrowed through his muscles and ate into his bones.

John was in agony, but there was no turning back. He began to feel thankful for the swig of Barret's bourbon. He pushed, willing, no, demanding, the Planet give Aeris her life force back.

Streaks of glowing green penetrated the whiteness like cool whispers. He continued to push. He could no longer see Aeris, but he was vaguely aware of his surroundings. Tifa's firm grip. The rough stone beneath his feet.

"What the hell?" Cid said.

"Lifestream." Nanaki's voice was full of wonder.

"How come we didn't get all these special effects when Nestor did this?"

"He was not trying to handle pure Holy. For a while it appeared the Planet was rejecting the Jenova. But now, watch."

The colors continued to swirl, though reduced in intensity. John could smell ozone, or maybe a fresh summer rain. Still, Tifa held fast. His energy spent, he felt his body slump. The armlet clanged to the ground. The Comet materia slipped from his pocket, bouncing only once before eager hands scooped it up. John could feel the flutter of Yuffie's delight. Beyond that, nothing. Blankness.

Sorry. Sorry, Aeris. I tried. I really did.

It was over. He could feel Aeris lying below him, very still, very cold . . . his own spirit beginning to leak away, perhaps the strain of the spell shorting out the synapses in his brain. He slumped forward, his body sprawling like a limp squid over the lifeless form beneath him. I'm sorry, he thought. I tried. I thought I could help. I thought I could save you. Now I can't even save myself. His mind began to drift in the white fog . . .

No!

What was left of his consciousness, his stubbornness, or perhaps that of Aeris -

Don't give up!

What had Nanaki said? Lifestream? How can someone die in something called the Lifestream?

He gathered his wits, reaching out to scoop his leaking thoughts back from the white haze. He had to do this. What would Aeris think if he died drooling all over her?

Focus, John. You know your life lacks focus, but use it now. Hey, even if you don't save yourself, at least save Aeris. You can do it. You know you can.

He pulled himself together, gathered his hopes and dreams, looked straight into Aeris' dead green eyes and pushed.

Pop. Now he was back. The lights, the colors, all natural. Perhaps a bit bright. He blinked.

"Aeris!" Cloud said. John felt Tifa's grip on him again, lifting him up. Yuffie ran into view, reaching down to the form, the _one_ form, wrapped in Vincent's cloak, and gave her a bear hug.

"Easy." Barret said. "Don't crush her like a beer can."

"Hello everyone," Aeris raised her bare arms. "It's so good to be in one piece. Oh, John. You're hurt."

John, with energy he didn't feel, glanced down at his spattered shirt. "Just . . . coughing up a little blood. No biggie." Then his world fizzed out.

"John?"

He opened his eyes. He saw Ifalna, dressed in her same red dress, standing in a field of grass and flowers. A warm breeze blew across John's face; he realized he hadn't felt this warm in weeks.

"Am I dead?"

"No. Don't argue. I should know."

"Then - "

"I didn't think you would pull it off. But you did. Not only helped stop Sephiroth and the Crisis from the Sky, but outsmarted the Planet as well. Perhaps there is still hope for the world."

John tried to think of something clever to say. His thoughts eluded him.

"Wow."

"And to think. Help would come from - "

"A Jenova?"

Ifalna nodded. "One thing I never learned while I was alive. A sense of irony. If only . . . well, that's water over the falls."

"Why am I here? Not that it isn't lovely."

"I need your help. To finish what I tried to do so long ago. To help my people."

"The Cetra? Are there any left?"

"So many mistakes. So much death. Greed. Revenge. It's - I'm sorry. You will leave soon. Will you help us?"

"Of course." Why stop now? He was on a roll.

"Thank you. The Planet is suffering. Not just because of the Mako reactors, but also from the loss of its Cetra. If we are gone . . . "

She leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead.

"Wow."

The scene faded from view, to be replaced by the familiar inside of a shell house. Aeris, Yuffie and Vincent peered down at him.

"Wow," John said again.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Vincent said.

A strange phrase, coming from a vampire.

"Cool. You're awake." Yuffie nearly did a cartwheel. "I'll bet you're starved."

"I, could use a bite. Stay back, Vinnie."

"Tifa is a wonderful cook," Aeris said. "So is Barret, if you can believe that. The biggest problem is keeping them from fighting in the kitchen.

Yuffie said, "I still say he looks dorky with those egg beaters in his gun arm."

Cloud sidled into view.

"Congratulations. And thanks."

John smiled, but said nothing. Wonderful smells of cooking drifted up from below.

Cloud looked at Aeris. "I can't believe it's over. Sephiroth gone, and Aeris back. Unbelievable."

John must have said something - or thought really loud, because Cloud grew serious and stared down at him.

"It's not over yet, is it?"

John shrugged. He had a feeling, that's all. Not even a true vision. Something else. Something else could have awakened when he performed his spell on Aeris. Could it be? Oh, stop it, John. Why can't you declare victory and go home?

He shook his head. "Is it ever? Come on. Let's eat. I'm starved."

* * *

Final note: Characters from Final Fantasy 7 are owned by Square-Enix. Other characters are mine. (Names of new limit breaks taken from the tabletop RPG _Tunnels and Trolls._ Yes, they sound corny-just be glad I didn't use "Slush Yuck."). If this story seems dated, I wrote it before _Advent Children_ or any of the spin-off games came out. Originally published on the "rpgclassics" site . . . but they stopped publishing fan fiction back in 2008 or so. :(

I took a great deal of inspiration from Frank Verderosa and his once famous FF7 series, and his idea of the Jenova as a space-faring species, but I did not use any of his settings or characters. (I did mimic his quirk of placing a quote at the top of each chapter, though!)

If you made it this far, thank you for reading!


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